


Giving In

by Phoenix_Falls



Category: Lost Girl
Genre: CopDoc - Freeform, Doccubus past, F/F, casefic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-05
Updated: 2016-05-06
Packaged: 2018-06-06 14:31:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 42,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6757900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phoenix_Falls/pseuds/Phoenix_Falls
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tamsin has discovered, much to her chagrin, that she's developing feelings for Lauren. Will she get the chance to tell the good doctor how she feels while dealing with a tough case before it's too late?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Lauren Lewis looked up quickly from the tissue samples under her microscope when she heard her name being shouted frantically from the other side of the room. Coming through the doors of the Light Fae lab was a badly beaten Dyson, supporting most of the weight of his blonde partner who had one arm thrown over the shifter’s shoulder and the other cradled protectively over a large, deep tear in her teal shirt which was turning maroon with the blood leaking onto it. The doctor stood immediately and rushed over to the pair, authoritatively calling out orders to the technicians for materials as fast as she could think of them.

 

“What happened?” she asked briskly, helping Dyson brace Tamsin’s weight with an arm around her waist as they half carried her to the closest empty gurney.

 

“Business as usual.” The shifter replied tightly, grunting slightly as they helped the blonde detective into a sitting position on the bed, though she still listed heavily to one side to avoid further injuring herself. For her part, Tamsin stared directly at the fluorescent light above her with her jaw tightly clenched as if not looking at the wound would make it not hurt. “There was a nest of underfae downtown.” Dyson continued. “Full of manticore. We’d only found out about them because they were starting to make a nuisance of themselves so we were sent to clean them out. We were doing alright with just the two of us till the male came out.”

 

“That big fucker shot _tail spikes_ at me.” Tamsin hissed, though Lauren wasn’t sure if her harsh tone was more from incredulous anger or obvious pain. The valkyrie gingerly moved her arm that was covering wound in her side so Lauren could cut the fabric of her shirt away to get a better look. Imbedded in the torn and bloodied flesh of the other blonde’s abdomen were four three inch greenish barbed spikes thick as concrete rebar.

 

Lauren frowned in concern and put on a pair of gloves, reaching over to a side tray that had been wheeled up and held several prepped needles and an IV bag full of clear fluid. “Luckily, they seem to have gone in at an angle and didn’t get deep enough to hit anything vital, but they’ll have to come out.” She started, ignoring the Tamsin’s eye roll at the statement. “It’s a good thing you didn’t just pull them out, though. I guess there would have been no way to tell in the field, but barbs from breeding age males are pretty poisonous.”

 

“Told you.” Dyson jibed his partner gently who only let out a huff of air and looked like she only _just_ barely restrained herself from kicking him in the shin. “Is there anything you need me to do, Lauren?”

 

Lauren shook her head absentmindedly, focusing on injecting the valkyrie with numbing agents before attempting a round of sedatives. She scanned the wolf shifter for any other signs of injury besides the forming bruises on his face and arms and some small cuts that would need a few stitches and he shook his head, reading her expression.

 

“I’ll be fine; really. You need to look after Tamsin.” He assured her, smiling good-naturedly as the aforementioned blonde scowled at the mention of needing to be taken care of.

 

Lauren nodded her agreement and set about trying to guesstimate an age range for the manticore based on the shape and wear of the portions of the barbs above the skin. “I’d still feel better if you let someone take a look at you before you leave.” She admitted, turning to look at him again after determining a round of antivenom treatments was the best course of action.

 

Dyson inclined his head in acknowledgement and shot a sympathetic look at his partner before heading off to find a free lab tech to close him up and send him on his way.

 

Lauren pulled the thin privacy curtain around the gurney shut and ordered the Dark Fae to take off her shirt, offering her assistance if the task proved too painful. She was too busy prepping the IV bag and watching the liquids progress down the clear tube as she hung it up to notice the raised eyebrow and smirk Tamsin offered in response to the suggestion. Tamsin did as she was told with minimal wincing and watched the doctor in silence, only wrinkling her nose slightly as Lauren inserted the IV needle into the crook of her elbow.

 

“What’s the damage, doc?” she asked to break the quietude between them as the other blonde hovered over the injuries in her side.

 

Lauren hummed thoughtfully for a moment, gently prodding the reddened skin around the wounds and watching for the taller woman’s reaction. Satisfied that the area was sufficiently numb, she straightened up and answered. “I’m pretty sure the manticore that got you was either approaching breeding age or was in its first couple of years of sexual maturity. The toxins aren’t as developed as they could have been, but I’m actually surprised you’re still conscious, to be honest. Do you feel tired at all, dry mouth? Having trouble with vision or focusing?”

 

The valkyrie shook her head. “Nah. A little nauseous is all. And it feels hot as hell in here.”

 

“Definitely the toxins, but I’ll bring you an icepack. It might get worse before it gets better as it works its way out of your system. Let me know if you start feeling anything else right away, okay?” she waited for Tamsin to nod before continuing. “Lucky for you, it’s policy to keep a plethora of underfae attack treatments on premises, so we have the antivenom on hand already. Unluckily, even though I’ve numbed the area as best I could, the extraction process will still be…painful, to put it mildly. Manticore lancets have little multidirectional spurs near the tips.” She moved towards the slit opening in the curtain. “I’ll be as gentle as I can, but I think it’s a good idea to throw in a good analgesic in your IV. An opioid isn’t entirely out of the question for the pain levels I’m anticipating. ” She rolled her eyes playfully. “Try to contain your thrill about it this time.”

“Just make sure it’s the good shit, and I’ll play like I’m at a funeral just for you, doc.” Tamsin called after Lauren as she stepped out of the curtain to retrieve the antidote and whatever painkiller she’d mentally settled on.

 

The blonde fae sighed and twisted her body gently to get a better look at the spikes jammed into her side. She cautiously wiggled the tip of one back and forth, flinching as a jolt of pain and a fresh wave of nausea rolled through her for her efforts. That stupid wolf had better be kissing her ass next time she saw him. If she hadn’t pushed him out of the way, he would have gotten those barbs straight to the chest. Still, she couldn’t bring herself to be truly annoyed. She’d never minded any of the numerous other times she’d wound up doped up, in some stage of undress, and under the care of Dr. Lewis either and could certainly think of much less pleasant places to be than where she was right now.

 

Tamsin eased herself back so she was in a semi reclining position to force herself to look someplace other than her wounds and to think. She’d always considered the doctor attractive, even when she hadn’t actually _liked_ Lauren. It wasn’t as if that had been the first time her eyes or her libido didn’t care one iota about synching with her immediate dislike for literally everyone on first meeting them and once they were on better terms, what was the point in getting worked up over having hot friends?

 

In the last several months however, that aesthetic admiration and occasional errant daydream had turned into another animal entirely. Tamsin had taken it upon herself to be the liaison between the doctor and the police station on fae related cases so often that Dyson had stopped giving her that irritating questioning look every time she volunteered ages ago and now just handed her files without comment. She often found herself scanning the faces at the Dal for Lauren and finding (or making up) excuses to talk to her when she did spot her. Somehow, much to her annoyed surprise, Tamsin realized she had developed feelings for Lauren that went beyond simple friendship. She rolled her eyes at herself and let out a frustrated huff of air. She had a crush on a _human_ of all things. How trite. She’d been hanging around Bo too long. Tamsin looked up as the subject of her thoughts came back through the curtained barrier with a small tray.

 

“Get me anything that’ll let me taste music or put me down till next Thursday?” she asked hopefully, watching the other woman set the tray down on a nearby stand and remembering whatever wonder drug the good doctor had given her when she’d had to have her arm reset not that long ago. Babies didn’t sleep even half as well as she had that week.

 

Lauren smiled but shook her head. “You need to be awake for the next twenty-four hours. I’m not sure of your exact toxin exposure without a body to examine, so I need you awake and monitored to make sure the antivenom is working at the doses I’m starting at and so you don’t slip into a coma in case it isn’t.”

 

Tamsin sucked her teeth in half-serious disappointment. “What a buzz kill. I guess I’m here overnight then?”

 

The other blonde nodded and pressed the promised icepack to Tamsin’s forehead before taking a full syringe from the tray and injecting its contents into the IV tube. “Some of the techs don’t feel comfortable with a Dark Fae here overnight, despite how often you seem to be here,” Lauren continued though her last comment was teasing. “So I’m sending everyone home tonight and I’ll be staying to keep an eye on you since there’s no one else.”

 

“Gee,” Tamsin replied sarcastically. “I didn’t know you cared so much.”

 

Lauren looked up as she removed the needle from the tube to meet the valkyrie’s gaze. “I _do_ care, Tamsin.” She said earnestly. “You _should_ know that by now.”

 

“I know…I was just fuckin around.” Tamsin mumbled in response, breaking eye contact when she suddenly felt vulnerable. She lifted a hand to add weight to the cold compress on her forehead and rolled her head side to side briefly. “I’m startin to feel _real_ spacey or some shit, doc.”

 

“That’ll be the remifentanil based compound kicking in.” The doctor replied casually while nodding. “You _did_ say you wanted the good stuff, didn’t you?”

 

“You’re the best kind of person.” Tamsin said dreamily, letting her arm flop uselessly back from her head.

 

Lauren laughed and tossed the empty syringe into the biohazard trash, picking up pair of bent-nosed pliers. “Remember you said that after those spikes are out.”

 

Over an hour later, the final twisted spur from the final spike had been removed from the valkyrie’s side and Lauren had sent the lancets out with the last lab tech going home for the night to be incinerated. She was finishing up stitching the wounds and paused for a moment to look at Tamsin who had a frown on her face. “How are you feeling?” she asked the Valkyrie.

 

“You weren’t kiddin about the pain part, doc.” The fae replied, her voice hoarse from the constant stream of inventive and incredibly loud swearing that had been tumbling past her lips. It would figure that the barbs had to be pushed and finagled further into her muscles in order to unhook the flesh from the hooked spines covering the tips. “I know I’m not exactly the best patient anyways, but still; sorry about the…”

 

Tamsin absently tapped her fingers against the metal railing of the raised side of the gurney, looking for the right turn of phrase. She wasn’t apologetic over her language, she didn’t care much what anyone thought of her language in all honesty and Lauren had known her long enough that she’d heard Tamsin casually utter any number of things that would make a pit demon make a distasteful face let alone when she was in pain. “Volume.” She settled on.

 

The younger woman shrugged and snipped the thread away from the last stitch. “It’s fine, I’ve heard worse.”

 

“Yeah, huh? You been pulling shit outta people a while now.”

 

“Longer than you’d think.” Lauren replied absentmindedly, dressing the wound with gauze.

 

“Lotta thrilling pre-fae adventures doctoring a couple rungs down on the evolutionary ladder?” Tamsin asked with a grin, her tone teasing.

 

“Nothing quite as glamorous as pulling toxic tail spikes from a manticore out of a mercurial valkyrie, but I…” she trailed off with a pensive expression like she was considering whether or not to continue. “Was in Afghanistan with MSF for…” she shook her head dismissively. “For a while, so I’d say a lot is an understatement, but I don’t know if ‘thrilling’ is the word I’d use.”

 

Tamsin watched Lauren thoughtfully. She’d pieced together long ago that the doctor had seen battlefields. There had been enough hints in things she said, knowledge she had, ways she did things, and that kind of experience left a type of energy that clung to people heavily no matter how far removed they were from it. Tamsin wouldn’t be worth the mud on the bottom of Sleipnir’s back hooves she’d hadn’t been able to at least sense _that_. But Lauren had never spoken about it directly before. Tamsin certainly wasn’t going to press the doctor for details; she recognized the admission wasn’t an invitation for that particular conversation but a show of trust. The valkyrie nodded to indicate she’d seen the gesture for what it was, returning the barest hint of a smile Lauren gave with ease.

 

“So,” Tamsin drawled in a more upbeat tone, trying to shake the unintentional heaviness of the previous moment while sitting up as much as she was able. “How d’ya plan on keeping me awake for the next,” she casually grabbed the doctor’s wrist to check the thin watch cuffed around it. “Twenty-one and a half hours?” she asked, unable to keep the flirtatious tone out of her voice but managing to resist the urge to indulge in a self-satisfied smirk when Lauren blushed slightly and looked away.

 

“I don’t know, honestly.” The human replied, standing up from the high chair she’d been sitting in to work on the valkyrie and stretching slightly. “I’ll start by getting some food in you so I can get you on another round of antivenom.” Lauren pulled off her lab coat, draped it on the back of her vacated seat and pulled open a camouflaged drawer against the wall behind the gurney, taking out a scrub top to replace Tamsin’s ruined shirt that had found a new home in the biowaste bin. “So I’m going to go get something and you’ll just have to do the best you can on your own for forty minutes.” She glanced around at the various accouterments in the curtained cubicle like they held any ideas. “You weren’t due for another emergency until _next_ week, so I’m afraid all I have around here to read while you wait are lab notes that I won’t bother subjecting you to.”

 

“Cause I wouldn’t understand it, right? What, you think I’m stupid now, doc?” Tamsin scoffed, crossing her arms and faking her indignity, knowing Lauren was well aware she’d rather count cracks in the ceiling than read boring lab reports.

 

“Hardly.” Lauren replied drolly and tossing the scrub top at her to put on. “It’s just my unconscious need to live up to the stereotype of doctors and handwriting.” She played along amiably. “It doesn’t seem fair to make you work so hard while you’re injured.” While Lauren’s scrawls all over the lab reports were small and in hurried shorthand, it was hardly indecipherable and the valkyrie had seen it often enough she read it even better than Dyson did, but the Dark Fae had her pride.

 

Tamsin rolled her eyes, but smiled at the doctor’s back as she stepped outside the curtained off area and left her alone in the lab.


	2. Chapter 2

Lauren took a pull from the bottle of beer Trick insisted on setting in front of her and glanced over the notes she had brought to the Dal with her. She was so absorbed in going over her research, that she didn’t notice Tamsin had come up next to her until Trick set a tumbler full of amber liquid on the countertop in front of the valkyrie.

 

“I thought I told you no drinking until the stitches came out?” Lauren scolded gently, looking over at the other woman.

 

“I thought you were kidding.” The Dark Fae replied, shrugging her shoulders and downing half the glass. “Anyways, I pulled those out a couple days ago.”

 

“ _Tamsin_ ; I told you those had to stay in for at _least_ two weeks.”

 

“They were itchy.”

 

“They were _healing_.” Lauren corrected with a frown. “You should have come to me. I know you heal fast, but if the stitches come out too early, you’ll just reopen the wounds.”

 

“Come on, I’m _fine_. Stop worrying.”

 

Lauren sighed and shook her head. “You should at least let me take a look and make sure you’re healing properly then.”

 

Tamsin raised an eyebrow. “Can’t wait to get my shirt off again, huh, doc?”

 

Lauren rolled her eyes but smiled anyway. “I’m serious.”

 

The valkyrie drank the rest of her glass and set it down hard on the counter, leaning down slightly so she could lower her voice. “Me too.” She purred, straightening up and holding up her hand to alert Trick of her need for another drink. “Whatcha workin on?” she asked before the doctor could react to her flirtation.

 

“Um,” Lauren started, clearing her throat. “Just some research for Bo. Know anything about poltergeists?”

 

Tamsin wrinkled her nose in distaste. “Yeah, they’re annoying and a pain in the ass to get rid of. I hope she’s charging extra for extraction…” she trailed off before snorting. “Who am I kidding? We both know she’s not”

 

“Actually, I don’t think she’s charging for this one at all.”

 

The valkyrie shook her head and took a restrained sip of her refreshed drink. “Figures.” She turned towards the pool tables when she heard her name being called. Dyson was standing in front of a racked and ready table, holding a pair of cue sticks. “Well doc, as much as I’d _love_ to stand around talking to you about _Bo_ , I’m gonna go take the wolf’s money.” She gulped down the rest of her drink and put the empty glass on the counter.

 

“Come to the lab tomorrow morning; I want to take a look at your wounds and make sure they’re healing properly.”

 

“Sure thing.” Tamsin pushed herself away from the bar and left the human to her notes, making her way across the Dal and to the pool tables where she took a stick from Dyson and nodded for him to begin the game.

 

“So, what did you two have to talk about?” the shifter asked, expertly breaking the cluster of billiard balls.

 

Tamsin sighed. Her partner asked that same asinine question every time she slipped off to talk to the other blonde and her answer was always the same. “ _Stuff_.” She replied flatly, leaning over the table to make a shot for the number two blue ball.

 

“You and Lauren seem to have an awful lot of… _stuff_ to talk about lately. Especially after that manticore attack last week.” He commented, watching her sink her shot and line up another.

 

The valkyrie shrugged slightly and narrowed her eyes in concentration. “What can I say? I’m a thrilling conversationalist.”

 

“Tamsin,” Dyson started, his tone apprehensive. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you two to be,”

“ _Don’t_ finish that sentence.” She warned. “First of all, it’s none of your business. Secondly, there’s _nothing_ going on.” Tamsin scowled as she missed her next shot, her concentration broken. “Now take your turn.”

Dyson clenched his jaw for a moment before lining up his next try. “If it concerns the Light Fae, it _is_ my business. You know that.”

 

“Oh don’t act like you always have the Light’s best interests at heart, you little hypocrite.” Tamsin shot back, her tone annoyed.

 

He looked up from the table and regarded her with concern. “Just be careful, is all I’m saying.”

 

“Thanks. You’re always full of advice I didn’t ask for.” She smirked slightly to cushion her irritation. “Just take your shot.”

 

 

ooo

 

 

Tamsin strolled into the Light Fae lab the next morning, hoping to catch Lauren before she became too engrossed in her work for the day. She stopped a few feet short of the doctor, noticing that she was having an animated conversation with Bo. Lauren shifted her weight slightly so she could see past the succubus and offered the valkyrie a small smile, indicating that she’d seen her come in. Bo turned around suddenly and eyed Tamsin for a moment, a strange look of shock crossing her features before turning her attention back to the human.

 

 

The valkyrie perched herself on top of a paper covered examination table and watched the lab techs go about their work for a while until she saw Bo leave the lab. The succubus mumbled a greeting to her as she walked by, a disgruntled look still on her face. Tamsin shrugged to herself, used to a bit of weirdness from Bo and chalked it up to Lauren having given her some bad news before putting it out of her thoughts as the doctor approached the table, pulling on a pair of gloves.

 

“You’re here early.” Lauren commented, pressing a hand to the other woman’s shoulder so she would lay back on the table.

 

“Yeah, well, I got stuff to do today too, doc. I _do_ have a job, yanno.”

 

Lauren hummed her agreement, but she was already only half paying attention, having lifted the side of the Valkyrie’s shirt to look at the wounds, which were scabby, but beginning to scar over. “Well it looks a lot better than I thought it would, but you still should have kept the stitches in. I’ve got some antiseptic I want you to put on it every night for at least the next three or four days to keep infection away… and I feel like this is pointless telling you, but if you stop drinking for a while, the scars will disappear faster too.”

 

“You’re right, it is pointless.” Tamsin agreed. “Besides,” she continued, pulling down her shirt as Lauren removed her gloves. “Chicks dig scars, right?”

 

The shorter blonde smiled but didn’t answer the question. “Do you have any pain or discomfort?”

 

“Nah. A little sore still, but that’s it.” She stretched and hopped off the exam table to follow the doctor. “What was up with you and the succubus?” she asked nonchalantly, hoping the other woman didn’t sense any ulterior motives in her question.

 

“Oh, Bo was just here to get a chemical spray to make the poltergeist corporeal. I thought that would help, so I made it last night.”

 

“Geeze, doc, do you ever _sleep_?”

 

Lauren laughed and shook her head. “I’m not even sure I know the real meaning of that word anymore.” She pulled a small tube of unguent from one of the numerous drawers in a nearby desk and handed it over. “Every night for the next three or four days.” She reminded.

 

“Yeah, yeah, I gotcha. You making an appearance at the Dal tonight? I hear Trick’s trying to get rid of a surplus of cluricaun wine that just came in.”

 

“I don’t know if I want to be around a bar full of Fae drunk on anything cluricaun make.”

 

“C’mon, live a little! Besides, it’ll be great to have a doctor there for when the fights start to break out.” She ignored the other woman’s eye roll and continued. “How bout this, you show up, and your first two glasses are on me.”

 

Lauren laughed incredulously. “ _First_ two? I don’t think I could handle more than one, Tamsin. I don’t have your constitution.”

  

“We can’t all be winners but I got faith in ya, doc. I’ll see you later, then.”

 

“I’ll think about it.” She corrected.

 

“I’ll see you later.” Tamsin reiterated confidently before striding out of the lab.


	3. Chapter 3

“Because they’re cheaper than day rates?” Tamsin repeated, laughing and shaking her head. “God, doc, that is a _truly_ horrible joke.”

“Hey!” Lauren protested tipsily, faking her offense. “That’s my favorite one.”

The valkyrie raised her eyebrows and took a draught from the wine glass in her hand. “Yeah, well, you need some new material.”

“Science humour is so underappreciated.” She sighed dramatically and swirled the clear green liquid around her glass before finishing what little was left. They were sitting on a couch in the back of the unusually crowded Dal, nursing cluricaun wine. At least _she_ was; Tamsin was on her fifth or sixth glass already. “You got any better ones?” she challenged, feeling lightheaded even though she’d drank barely half a glass.

“Me? I got nothin. You don’t need standup when you have wits this sharp.”

“Right. Of course. How foolish of me.” The human replied with a smile.

“I guess I’ll forgive you this time.” The Dark Fae said, with a firm nod of her head. “You ready for another one?” she asked, gesturing to the empty glass in Lauren’s hand.

“I don’t know; this one is already going to my head and it hasn’t even fully kicked in yet.”

“You’re such a lightweight.” Tamsin said teasingly.

“I’m human, remember?”

Tamsin shrugged and gestured towards the bar, which could barely be seen through the throng of people. “C’mon, that’s no excuse! Kenzi’s been knocking em back since before you got here.”

“Well Kenzi is a professional.” Lauren countered dryly. She stared down at her empty glass for a few moments before shrugging and handing it to the other woman. “Alright. One more probably won’t kill me…probably.”

“You’ll be fine, doc. I won’t let anything happen to you.” The Valkyrie assured, emptying what was left in her glass and standing up from the couch. She returned the smile Lauren gave her before making her way through the crowd and up to the bar, waving down Trick who nodded that he’d seen her.

“Tamsin, hi.” Bo said next to her, catching her attention.

“Hey.” She replied, her tone indulgent. She caught Kenzi’s gaze next to the succubus and inclined her head in greeting, the human gave a wave with her free hand as her other hand was busy pouring the contents of her glass into her mouth. “How many of those has she had?” Tamsin asked the brunette, impressed with the array of empty glasses in front of Kenzi that had yet to be cleared.

“That’s her third, plus a couple tequila shots, some kind of fairy mead and whatever she’s planning on getting after that. This is like Christmas for her.” Bo said, nursing a beer.

“None for you? Cluricaun wine is one of the wonders of the world.”

“I’m driving. Trick promised to save me a bottle or two to take home, so long as Kenzi doesn’t drink it all.”

“You better cut her off soon then, she’s going to pickle her liver.”

Bo laughed lightly and nodded in agreement. “So, where’s Lauren? I thought I saw her come in.”

Tamsin sighed at the strained note in Bo’s voice and lifted her gaze to the ceiling for a moment, looking for strength. “How should I know?” she said with a nonchalant shrug.

The succubus lifted a shoulder in response and picked at the label on her beer bottle. “I dunno; Dyson’s just told me you guys talk a lot at the Dal.” She answered noncommittally. “About… _stuff_.”

Tamsin waved at Trick again to try and hurry him up. “Oh, for fucks sake… you tell him to keep his nose _out_ of my business.”

Bo looked over at the valkyrie, her tone serious. “Is there business to put his nose in?”

“ _What_ is with you people?” she replied, exasperatedly, grabbing the fresh glasses Trick set in front of her.

“Lauren is really important to me.”

Tamsin rolled her eyes. “I’m pretty sure there isn’t a fae on either side who doesn’t know that, but thanks for the pointless information.”

Bo put a hand on the blonde’s arm to stop her from leaving. “I’m not worried about other fae knowing that, I just want to make sure _you_ know it.”

Tamsin looked at the succubus dubiously, almost sure there was a threat in there somewhere but she couldn’t quite figure out where. “Yeah, okay.” She said flatly, shaking her arm slightly so Bo’s hand fell away. Shaking her head, she made her way back to through the crowd of people, her mood souring. On seeing Lauren on the couch where she’d left her, Tamsin put Bo completely out of her mind and sat down in her previous spot next to the doctor. “How’d you manage to keep my spot free?” she asked, handing the human her drink.

“No one really pays attention to me unless I’m acting in an official capacity.” Lauren admitted with a shrug, not sounding the least put out by that revelation.

“Tch.” The valkyrie sounded in disapproval. Tamsin had no idea how people could outright ignore Lauren. Sure, she was human, but Kenzi was met with a general positive attitude and she hadn’t done a quarter of things Lauren had for the fae. Ungrateful bastards. Tamsin lifted her glass and took a healthy gulp. “Try and keep up, doc.” She said, not wanting to dwell on the subject.

The other woman smiled and rolled her eyes, but took a drink of the sweet wine. “Are you trying to get me drunk?”

Tamsin lifted one shoulder. “First of all,” she countered, holding up a finger. “You’re halfway there so you might as well go the distance, ammirite? Secondly, I’m pretty sure ‘drunk’ is one of the six universal emotions.”

Lauren laughed and shook her head, amused. “I’d correct you on that last point, but I feel like you’d just argue with me.”

“I most definitely would.”

“I’m actually surprised no one’s started fighting yet. I’m _more_ surprised _you_ haven’t started fighting yet.”

“A couple people got tossed out before you got here.” She replied with a snicker. “Trick threatened to release his troll on them.” She bumped Lauren’s knee with her own. “And really, doc? You honestly think I’m paying attention enough to the losers around here to get into a fight?” the valkyrie looked at the crowd around them briefly. “Granted, if you weren’t here, I’d have probably gotten into a _really_ good one by now.”

“Oh yeah?” Lauren asked, pleased with herself. “Am I really that distracting?”

Tamsin raised her eyebrows and smirked but instead of answering the question, took another drink and changed the subject.

 

ooo

 

Several hours later, a pleasantly drunk Lauren had made it home in a cab and was busying herself with drinking glasses of water to try and circumvent a hangover the next day. After a few glasses, she set the cup on the counter next to the sink and made her way upstairs to her bedroom. She would be lying if she said she hadn’t been noticing that Tamsin was frequently becoming more flirtatious with her lately and she wasn’t quite sure how to deal with that. She thought it was because they were more comfortable around each other and that’s just how the valkyrie was, but the more it happened, the less Lauren was certain the Dark Fae was just screwing around.

It wasn’t that the doctor minded, really. Once she’d mostly gotten past Tamsin’s gruff exterior, she found that they surprisingly had quite a bit in common. She was funny, unexpectedly learned, and could even be fairly sweet (though Lauren would never describe Tamsin as such out loud). She was a little confused about how to react, though. Lauren suspected the other blonde had no idea that she’d been harboring more than friendly affection for her for months now. She was convinced that given the valkyrie’s personality, she would have made a move on her if she had known. Lauren was cautious though; despite her feelings, Tamsin was not just any fae, she was Dark Fae.

Her relationship with Bo had been tolerated and even encouraged because it was beneficial to the Light. There was no telling how a reaction to breaking the human/fae social taboos would go with a member of the Dark; despite the intramural Dark-Light cooperation lately. Lauren tossed her clothes carelessly on the floor and got into bed, pulling the comforter up to her chin. She wasn’t even sure Tamsin was after anything more than casual sex though she readily admitted that Tamsin didn’t seem the relationship type. 

Lauren sighed and closed her eyes. The doctor had grown unused to being hit on since becoming immersed in the fae world. Like she had told the valkyrie at the Dal, she was generally ignored unless acting in some official capacity. Though it wasn’t completely unheard of for fae to be attracted to her, it was so infrequent that she became flummoxed when it did happen and generally suspected some kind of ulterior motives behind the actions. Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but she hadn’t sussed out any nefarious reasons that Tamsin could have for flirting with her and being the least bit serious about it at the same time. Still, Lauren felt it wise to keep her feelings to herself. It would never work, for a million reasons least of all being on opposite sides of the fae system. Maybe if she ignored her feelings long enough they would go away.


	4. Chapter 4

Lauren looked at her hands which were resting in her lap and tried not to fidget. She was sitting on the plush red couch in what passed as Bo’s living room after semi-purposely avoiding the succubus for a week. At first, she had just genuinely been busy with work and hadn’t been answering her phone or checking her text messages but then she had gotten a message that simply read: ‘I really need to talk to you’ and that had made her nervous, so she had taken to avoiding the brunette. Truthfully, she didn’t really know what Bo wanted to talk about; it could have been any number of things but the fae’s insistence told her it wasn’t a conversation she was necessarily going to like.

Still she couldn’t run forever, not from Bo, so after eight days of conveniently being out of the lab when Bo came, she had allowed the succubus to pick her up after work and drive her to the dilapidated building she called home. On entering, Bo b-lined to the kitchen to get drinks while Lauren settled on the couch. Immediately, Lauren noticed Kenzi was no where to be found so whatever it was her ex wanted to talk about, it wasn’t work. She felt anxious knots forming in her stomach and sent out a prayer that Bo didn’t want to talk about _them_. Bo padded back into the living room and handed Lauren the glass of water she’d asked for, sitting down next to her on the couch and putting her own glass on the coffee table. They sat in a tense silence for several minutes, Lauren staring into her glass, feeling Bo’s eyes on her. Finally, Bo took the cup from Lauren and gently set it on the table next to hers and took the blonde’s hands in hers, speaking only when Lauren looked up at her with a startled expression.

“I’ve missed you.” Bo started slowly, ducking her head slightly to catch Lauren’s gaze when she tried to look away.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized immediately. “I’ve just been busy lately.” She squeezed Bo’s hands slightly to let her know her apology was sincere.

“No, I mean I’ve really _missed_ _you_ , Lauren.”

In spite of her better judgment, Lauren felt her stomach flip and she sucked in a sharp breath. “Bo, I can’t…” but the succubus cut her off.

“I know; I haven’t been fair to you…to _us_. I know I’ve been really indecisive about, well, everything but I’m not ready to give up on us yet.” She brought one hand up to cup the blonde’s cheek and smiled self-assuredly when Lauren automatically leaned into the touch. “Please tell me you haven’t either.”

Lauren indulged herself in the succubus’ touch for a moment, briefly closing her eyes as the pad of Bo’s thumb gently traced her cheekbone before softly grabbing her wrist and pulling Bo’s hand away from her face and back into her lap.

“What made you decide this?” she asked, avoiding the question.

Bo looked vaguely uncomfortable for a moment before she smiled slightly in an attempt to cover up the expression. “I just…I feel like I’m going to lose you.”

“Oh, Bo…” Lauren sighed. “You’re not losing me. I just don’t think it’s really a good idea to…” she trailed off. How was she supposed to explain? There was no doubt she still loved the succubus. Of course, there would always be a part of her that would love Bo,     but the fact of the matter was they couldn’t be what the other needed. No matter how badly either of them wanted to be. It wasn’t fair to either of them to keep perusing a relationship. Lauren didn’t know what had brought on Bo’s insistence on talking about this. She’d overheard Dyson talking to her on the phone while he and Tamsin were at the lab not two weeks ago and at least on his end, they had seemed very…together.

While she knew that being romantically involved with a succubus meant that she had to be willing to let Bo _be_ a succubus, sharing her with Dyson made her skin crawl. The wolf shifter seemed to go out of his way to gloat about his superior ability to keep Bo more sated than Lauren could though she knew it had more to do with physiology than skill alone. She looked up when Bo called her name gently in a tone that suggested it wasn’t the first time she’d tried to get her attention.

“I asked if there was anyone else?” Bo repeated, biting her lower lip.

Lauren frowned, slightly perplexed. Why would Bo think there was someone else? She spent almost all of her time around fae and Bo knew as well as anyone that they didn’t make any serious efforts in pursuing her. The only fae that showed her any non-work related attention was…oh. She flushed and shook her head.

Bo looked simultaneously relieved and confused and let out a small sigh. “Don’t you want me anymore?” the question was almost innocent but the look on Bo’s face said she already knew the answer and Lauren cursed the succubus’ ability to see her aura.

“Yes.” She replied, figuring there was no point in lying. Her mouth went dry and she swallowed hard as Bo brought her hand up once again to cup her cheek while leaning forward. Lauren realized she was quickly losing control of this situation and did her best to lean back. “Bo…” she started, her pitch warning.

Bo just smiled and slid her hand down to the back of Lauren’s neck, urging her forward even as she halfheartedly made an attempt to lean away. “Lauren…” she teased, mimicking the doctor’s tone.

Lauren could barely keep herself from shuddering as she felt a sudden wave of desire ripple through her. She was well acquainted with Bo’s seducing touch but regardless of how many times she had felt it, it was still hard if not impossible to fight against. She closed her eyes briefly when the sensation became too powerful but snapped them open again when she felt Bo’s warm breath close to her face. Bo’s dark brown gaze was being eaten away at the edges by a brilliant blue. “Stop.” Lauren demanded, her voice shaky and not as firm as she had intended.

Bo looked puzzled for a moment but her face quickly shifted into a wounded expression and she immediately leaned back, pulling her hand away from the back of Lauren’s neck and ran her palms down her thighs. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head a few times before opening them again and Lauren sighed with relief at seeing they were their normal deep brown with no trace of blue.

“I’m sorry.” Bo said dejectedly. “I just thought…”

Lauren sighed again. “This… _us_ , just isn’t going to work.” She put a hand on Bo’s knee. “Bo, you need to take some time to figure yourself out and that’s going to take longer than a few months. I want…I need something more stable than you can give me right now, maybe ever, and I don’t want to be the one to get in the way of you discovering what you really want.”

Bo nodded glumly. “I should take you home.”

Lauren gave Bo’s knee a gentle squeeze and stood up. “No,” she replied, shaking her head. “I could use some air. I’ll call a cab.”

The succubus nodded and followed her to the door. When Lauren turned and embraced her suddenly, Bo was surprised at first, but automatically put her arms around the blonde tightly.

“You’re not going to lose me.” Lauren murmured reassuringly. They held each other for several long minutes before simultaneously pulling away.

Bo smiled at the blonde encouragingly and nodded, holding her gaze. She felt like she was saying goodbye. Relinquishing her romantic chances with Lauren and she could see Lauren felt it too but Bo made no move to stop her when she turned and walked out the door.

Lauren didn’t know how far she walked or even really where she was as her vision insisted on blurring every so often and she had to blink the tears out of her eyes to better see her surroundings. Though when she saw the seedy looking bar, she ignored her initial misgivings in favor of the part of her that was screaming that she needed a stiff drink and went in. The place was dimly lit and though it was very crowded, she was lucky enough to find an empty stool at the end of the bar. The barrel chested bartender covered in tattoos regarded her skeptically but nodded when she ordered a shot of R & R and told him to keep them coming till she said when.

 

ooo

 

An hour later found Lauren not in the pleasant forgetful haze of buzzed, but on the acrimonious and downcast side of drunk. Which was why when someone sat next to her she didn’t even cast her gaze away from its fixed point on the water spotted countertop. Nor did she even blink in acknowledgement when the man next to her attempted to start conversation several times. She only bothered to look at him when he put a hand on her arm to get her attention and even then, it was only to scowl.

He looked like he fit in with the other patrons of the rough and tumble establishment. He was tall, heavyset yet muscular, his motorcycle vest doing nothing to hide the colorful tattoos crowded on both his arms. He had a somewhat angular face but he wasn’t unattractive. He certainly was not, however, anywhere near Lauren’s type. He appeared to be completely unfazed by Lauren’s glare and offered her a genial smile which she did not return.

“I’m Weasel.” He said gruffly.

Lauren refrained from rolling her eyes but jerked her arm so he would get the hint and remove his hand. “Great.” She answered flatly, knocking back the fresh shot put in front of her. She was going to have a headache in the morning, she was sure of it.

“I figured you could use some company.” Weasel continued, not caring that the blonde was not receptive. “Hot girl downing shots like there’s no tomorrow obviously got some troubles and shouldn’t be alone. Let me guess, some man did you wrong?”

Lauren tilted her head to one side and very nearly smirked. “Nope.”

The large man’s eyes seemed to light up and he leaned his elbows on the counter. “You got a man, blondie?”

She wrinkled her nose, immediately objecting to the nickname. “Nope.” she toyed with the next shot put in front of her. Whisky did awful things to her head the next day; this should really be the last one.

Weasel scooted his barstool closer to her. “That’s a damn shame. Fine piece of ass like you?” he clucked his tongue.

Lauren had the presence of mind to shudder slightly at his tone. “I’m not interested.” She said firmly.

Weasel laughed like she had said something funny. “Course you are, blondie. Don’t be ridiculous. _No one_ says no to me.”

Lauren pulled several bills out of her pocket and slapped them on the counter with a nod to the bartender, sliding off her stool without taking her last shot. It was definitely time to go. “Well _I’m_ saying no.” She retorted tersely making a move to walk past him to the exit. But the large man grabbed her by the upper arm and gripped tightly when she tried to wrench out of his grasp, causing her to wince. He was clutching onto her dominant arm so she couldn’t even feasibly throw an effective punch.

“I’m not giving you the option to say no, understand?” he hissed close to her face, his stale breath smelling of beer and tobacco.

Lauren grunted loudly with the renewed effort of trying to squirm out of his hold, but it was no use, he was much stronger than her. So she did the next best thing that came to mind and spit in his face. Watching his cheeks turn red and then almost purple with rage would have been veritably comical if there wasn’t such fury in his eyes. He opened his mouth as if to say something while drawing his free hand back, causing Lauren to recoil in preparation for the blow but a new voice next to her interrupted any of that.

“Is there a problem?”

Lauren jerked her head to the side at the familiarity of the voice and sure enough, Tamsin was standing next to her, arms crossed over her chest and an irate look on her face, seeming to be imposing even though the man was over a head taller than her. To Lauren’s relief, Weasel brought the hand he’d been ready to strike her with down but did not let go of her arm. “What’s it to you?” he grunted. “I got no business with you, Tamsin.”

“No, actually, you do.” She said angrily. “When you put your hands on _my_ people, I get cranky.” She uncrossed her arms and clenched her fists at her side, staring at him coldly. “Am I going to have to get cranky Weasel?”

The burly man immediately released his hold and Lauren rubbed the feeling back into her arm, taking an unconscious step towards the Valkyrie who stepped out in front of her.

“Don’t get excited.” He grumbled. “I didn’t know she was with you.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t know I needed to clear everyone with you first.” She gave a mock frown. “Oh wait, I don’t.” she lowered her voice and took a threatening step towards him. “If you _ever_ put your hands on a woman like that again, I will _end_ you. Do you understand?”

Weasel held up his hands and took a few steps back, nodding. Tamsin nodded along with him, seemingly satisfied with herself and placed a firm hand on the small of Lauren’s back and guided her into the night air.

“Jesus, doc.” The valkyrie said once they got outside and a few feet away from the door. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Lauren shook her head. “What are _you_ doing here?” she asked instead.

Tamsin shrugged. “It’s neutral territory, I can do what I want. Besides, the rotgut here is cheaper than the Dal and humans around here are terrible at pool so their money is easier to take.” She watched the doctor sway back and forth slightly as they stood under a streetlamp. “Are you plastered?”

Lauren lifted one shoulder noncommittally. “I don’t know if I would call it ‘plastered’, per say, but I’m sure my BAC is over the legal limit.”

Tamsin shook her head, but her expression was amused. “What are you doing all the way out here in the first place? Got troubles with the succubitch?”

Lauren frowned and ran a hand through her hair. “Why would you assume that?”

The valkyrie rolled her eyes. “Her house, if you can call it that, is about twenty blocks that way” she jerked a thumb behind her to indicate direction. “I’m pretty sure that’s the only thing around here that would interest you.”

“We were just talking.” Lauren answered quickly. She didn’t know why her voice was so tense or why the other blonde’s reaction seemed important, but she relaxed when Tamsin nodded.

“Musta been some talk. Everything okay?”

There was genuine concern in the valkyrie’s voice and Lauren smiled slightly. “I think so …I needed to make some things clear and it was just… a difficult conversation.”

“Next time you need to get bombed after a heart to heart, go to the Dal.”

“I didn’t want to be surrounded by…” she stopped herself from saying ‘fae’ in case she offended the taller blonde but Tamsin held up her hand and nodded.

“Say no more, doc. Why d’ya think I come here? Still, you need to be careful.”

“I’m _perfectly_ able to take care of myself, Tamsin.”

Tamsin chuckled and put a steadying hand on Lauren’s shoulder when she swayed a little too far to one side. “I believe you. I’m just saying that you’re used to being able to kind of move around without being bothered and it’s not like that everywhere. You need a drinking buddy if you’re going to get tanked in the neutral zone.”

Lauren took a step into the valkyrie’s personal space. “You offering?”

Tamsin grinned. “Well you already know I’m an excellent drinking buddy. C’mon, lemme take you home.”

She nodded and the Dark Fae led her with a palm against her back to the parking lot alongside the bar. Though she initially protested, Lauren allowed Tamsin to help her up into the truck, leaning her head against the cool glass of the window as the valkyrie slid into the driver’s side and started the vehicle.

“It’s a lot cleaner in here than I thought it would be.” Lauren commented as they started down the road.

“Those are fightin words.”

The doctor looked over at Tamsin, but her expression showed she wasn’t serious. “Sorry.” Lauren said anyways.

“Nah, forget it. You get a pass cause you’re cute, but don’t let it happen again.”

Lauren blushed in spite of the mild compliment. “Thanks, you’re too magnanimous.”

“Don’t go spreading that around, you’ll ruin my rep.”

She chuckled and they fell into a companionable silence. Lauren soon found herself sneaking glances at the Dark Fae, trying not to stare too long lest she be caught. She had been ignoring Tamsin as much as she’d been ignoring Bo. She hadn’t been taking her research notes to the Dal like she normally did when she realized she was using that as an excuse to run into the valkyrie, however briefly. There hadn’t really been any fae related cases at the district station that week. Nothing that couldn’t be handled over the phone, but the two times Tamsin had come in to pick something up, Lauren had feigned business and passed the interaction off to a lab tech. She had been hoping that without the almost constant contact with the valkyrie, her deepening crush would begin to atrophy. It seemed, however, to have had the opposite effect.

It was true, that when Bo asked her if there was anyone else, she had thought of Tamsin but she hadn’t really lied when she told Bo there wasn’t anyone. After all, it wasn’t like she and the valkyrie had _done_ anything and though it was probably the alcohol talking, she was having a hard time thinking of reasons why not. There was of course the glaring reason being taboos between Dark Fae and Light Fae property, but that was starting to seem more like an excuse than a legitimate reason (that was definitely the alcohol talking). She sighed as they pulled up to the compound and Tamsin cut off the engine. Lauren turned to thank her and say goodbye but was surprised when she found the taller blonde had already slipped out of her seat and was making her way around to the passenger’s side. Tamsin opened Lauren’s door and offered her arm, which she stubbornly refused at first but took when the world tried to tilt away from her as she slid out of the truck.

“Thanks.” Lauren said as they stopped in the alcove in front of her door. She planned on stretching out on the couch once she got in and not risk trying to fumble up the stairs in her state.

“No problem.”

“I mean for more than the ride.” She clarified. “I feel pretty stupid.”

Tamsin shrugged. “Don’t feel bad, doc. We’ve all had those days. Hell,” she rolled her eyes. “I’ve had those _years_.” She smiled when Lauren chuckled. “You gonna be alright?”

Lauren nodded and sucked in a breath as a surge of impulsiveness suddenly went through her and she grabbed Tamsin’s wrist as she was turning to go. The valkyrie turned around, her expression questioning and Lauren quickly leaned up to press their lips together before she lost the nerve. She’d meant for the kiss to be brief but leave no question as to her intent though she didn’t protest when Tamsin somewhat roughly pushed her by her shoulders against the door, pinning her with her hips and gladly opened her mouth when the valkyrie’s tongue swiped her bottom lip. They stood making out like teenagers for a few minutes until Lauren let out a whimper and they pulled apart.

“Shit, doc.” Tamsin said a bit breathlessly as she put a little more space between them, dropping her hands from Lauren’s shoulders. “How long you been holding _that_ back?”

The doctor smiled somewhat smugly. “A while.” She replied, enjoying the way Tamsin’s eyebrows arched in surprise and her face remained flush.

Tamsin chuckled and shook her head. “You got anything else you’re holdin back?”

Lauren rolled her eyes slightly but shrugged in response.

“Right.” Tamsin grinned, shoving her hands into her back pockets. “I’ll see ya around.” She would never tell this to anyone, but after Lauren went inside and closed the door, Tamsin touched two fingers to her lips as if she could still feel Lauren’s on hers and stood in the alcove in a semi daze for a minute before heading back to her truck.


	5. Chapter 5

A loud knock on the door startled Lauren awake and she bolted upright from her slumped over position at her desk, immediately regretting the action as her vision became consumed with bright white light and a flash of pain shot through her head. She pressed the heels of her palms gently into her eyes that were now squeezed shut and groaned slightly. Sighing, she pushed herself away from the desk and gently ran her hands over her cheeks checking to make sure she didn’t have any sleep lines embedded in them. Smoothing down the front of her shirt, she opened the door to reveal the Dark Fae valkyrie standing akimbo with a strange mix of concerned and annoyed on her face.

“Catch ya at a bad time, doc?” Tamsin asked, crossing her arms over her chest and sounding exasperated, but she looked relieved as she gave her a once over. “Were you…were you sleeping in the middle of the day?”

Lauren felt her face flush in spite of Tamsin’s teasing tone and shrugged slightly taking a step back into the apartment while running a hand through her tousled hair to make room for the other woman to get by her. “It was a long night.” She mumbled, her voice hoarse and closing the door behind the fae woman while trying not to look away when Tamsin threw her a cocky smile.

“Oh my god.” Tamsin said suddenly when she spied the half full pitcher of water on Lauren’s work desk along with the empty glass beside it and just then registering how dim the apartment lights were. “Are you _hungover_ , doc?” She whispered conspiratorially, doing nothing to hide the glee in her voice or on her face. “Is that why you weren’t at the lab?”

Lauren frowned slightly. When she had gone inside last night, she knew she needed to hydrate and go straight to sleep since she _had_ predicted a hangover but against her own logic, she’d lain awake half drunk from the whisky she’d drank and half drunk from replaying that kiss over and over. “I was in the lab this morning.” Lauren defended, nearly wincing at how loud her voice sounded in her head. “If the opportunity to work from home presents itself, I do take it on occasion.” It wasn’t a total lie. “You should have called.”

Tamsin let out a puff of air between her lips like she was trying not to laugh and gestured to the cellphone on Lauren’s desk. “I did. A lot. You can check, if ya want.”

The doctor moved past her, unnecessarily brushing against Tamsin’s arm on the way to her desk and picked up her phone. Five missed calls, four from the police station and one from Tamsin’s cell. She chided herself mentally, only just then realizing how long she’d been asleep at her desk. No wonder why her neck and shoulders were so sore. “I’m guessing since only one of these missed calls is your number that this isn’t a personal visit?”

The valkyrie licked her lower lip and smirked. “Would that it could be, doc, but nah, I’m all business today.” Tamsin knew Lauren hadn’t meant the question that way but she couldn’t help herself.

“What’s going on?” the human prompted, her tone professional.

“There’s sort of a predicament the wolf boy and I find ourselves in, see? It’s actually better that you’re here since the less fae that know about this, the better.”

“What’s happened?”

“Well you remember that manticore nest a while back?” she waited for Lauren to nod before continuing. “It was a little more complicated than ‘business as usual’. The jackass breeding the damn things was a _human_ and he’s not the first one we’ve caught with underfae or fae related crap on him in the last six months.”

“What?” Lauren breathed, her tone incredulous. It wasn’t unheard of for humans to get their hands on fae artifacts or even the occasional underfae but it was highly unusual to hear of it more than once in a six month period let alone come across any humans with the knowhow on breeding something like manticore.

“We’ve been kinda Secret Squirrel about this whole thing but it’s getting ridiculous. From what we’ve gathered so far, there’s something of a black market for fae and underfae related shit. No big deal, right? That’s the nature of the beast. The problem is, is that this market isn’t sanctioned.”

“Isn’t that what a black market _is_ though?”

Tamsin shrugged. “Sure, your average illegal human black market is exactly that. They even end up with our shit on occasion too. You know, I heard that a while back there was even a mongolian death worm on the human market, but that’s not the point. _Somebody_ always runs fae black markets, despite the name. They probably would still be under the radar without this Dark Fae, Light Fae intramural kumbaya bullshit at the cop shop, to be honest. Wolf boy says his people aren’t running it and my people sure as hell aren’t running it so someone is not only making unsanctioned money on this shit but they’re selling exclusively to humans.”

“How do you know it’s only humans? I admit it’s highly unusual to find fae related anything in human possession with any frequency, but…”

“…Nine times.” Tamsin interrupted. We’ve caught nine different humans in the last six months with some serious shit, doc. At least four of them didn’t even know what they really had. We did a catch and release on the last guy, the one with the manticores? Well we followed him to where this thing is going down, big abandoned warehouse, natch but when we go to do the undercover thing, we can’t get in.”

“What do you mean you couldn’t get in? Wards?”

“Yeah, some kinda wards too. Tried to take a step in through the side door and got thrown back a good distance. The shifter has no soft parts, I’dda been better off landing on the ground, ya know?” Tamsin frowned and rubbed at her elbow like she was remembering the landing. “Anyways, I’ve only seen wards like that a couple times. They’re really hard to pull off properly. Generally, they only keep certain fae out. It’s a popular ward when one side wants to keep the other side out of an area temporarily since it only works for about six hours. But since neither Dyson nor I could get it, it’s not side specific. Near as we can figure, it’s keeping out all fae except whoevers running the damn thing.”

“And you guys can’t figure out who that is?”

“Nah. There’s only three ways in that we saw. There’s a delivery entrance but it’s sealed, the aforementioned side door and the front door the humans were using which was also warded. I waited at the front and Dyson at the side but we only ever saw the humans who’d gone in come out. We went in after the wards wore off and the whole damn place was empty.”

“What can I do?”

Tamsin smiled slightly. “Gee, I’m glad you asked! So the thing is, if only humans can get in there, we need some humans to, well, get in there, right? Figure out if they can see whose running the show, or if not get a scope on what’s being sold and that might give a clue.”

“And…and you’re asking _me_ to do it? Tamsin, I’m not really…”

“Oh c’mon, doc! I’ve seen you spit in the face of a dude who could bench you with one hand, you’ll be fine. Plus, you won’t be going alone, Kenzi will be with you.”

Lauren refrained from rolling her eyes. “You want me and _Kenzi_ to go undercover as purchasers of illicit fae goods? Have you lost your…”

“Yeah, sounds crazy, right?” the valkyrie interrupted. “But look, you guys’d be perfect for the job! You’ve got all the required fae and underfae knowledge needed but no offense, you’re lacking in some of the social graces needed to clench a black market deal.”

The doctor scoffed, but wasn’t really offended, Tamsin was right. “And Kenzi does?” she asked anyways, already knowing she did.

“That little land pirate once swindled me out of an unopened bottle of scotch old enough to have babysat her grandmother and I wasn’t even mad about it until two hours later.”

“Good enough for me.” She conceded, not surprised but still impressed. “Still, I don’t think I’ll be allowed to…”

“…Taken care of! What do you take me for, an amateur? Anyways, like I said, everyone is losing money and only god knows what they’re selling these dumbasses. The Morrigan _and_ the Ash are _very_ interested in seeing this come to a successful, profitable and more importantly, quiet, conclusion. So, you gonna help or what?”

A self-deprecating smile flickered on the shorter blondes face. “Do I really have a choice in the matter?” Lauren rolled her eyes at the sharp bitterness in her tone. It wasn’t Tamsin’s fault, being resentful about it wasn’t going to change things.

Tamsin frowned and moved into Lauren’s personal space. “Hey,” she started, her tone softer than normal. “I can just make some shit up, if you don’t wanna, I’m not going to make you.” She reached over the short distance and hovered her hand near Lauren’s shoulder like she was going to touch her but dropped it back to her side and stepped back far enough to where she couldn’t hear Lauren swallow hard. “Just think about it, is all.” She supplied in her normal voice after clearing her throat. “We’ll be meeting at the clubhouse tomorrow at noon to get ready. You know, if it hasn’t caved in on itself before then. If you’re not there by twelve thirty, we’ll work on plan B, okay?”

Lauren nodded and smiled slightly, walking the taller woman to the door. She wanted to ask her about last night, wanted to tell her that she hadn’t kissed her because she wasn’t sober but had gotten the courage to but she opened the door and leaned against it slightly and watched the valkyrie step over the threshold. “Thanks…again.”

Tamsin shrugged nonchalantly but she looked pleased with herself. “Don’t worry bout it. Just keep hydrated, alright?”

“If you could maybe not say anything about…”

“Really?” she interrupted with a hand on her hip. “Who am I gonna tell? If a girl isn’t entitled to get stupid drunk every so often, what’s even the point? Don’t worry, doc. Last night is strictly between you and me.” She winked and sauntered down the walkway, leaving a slightly besotted Lauren staring after her.


	6. Chapter 6

“This is dumb.” Kenzi called from the couch, not taking her eyes off the television screen as she mashed buttons on the game controller in her hands in an effort to shoot oncoming zombies. “Bo, remind us how dumb this is. She’s not even going to show up.”

“It’s not dumb, Kenz.” Bo insisted loudly from the far end of the kitchen where she was keeping an eye on Tamsin who was searching through the bottles of liquor on the counter. “And she’ll be here.” She lowered her voice to normal volume so Kenzi wouldn’t hear and directed a pointed gaze at the valkyrie though she wasn’t looking at her. “You _did_ tell her what was going on, right?”

Tamsin yanked open the cork on a bottle of cluricaun wine and peered inside to see how much was left and let out an exasperated sigh. “Will you chill out? God, for a succubus, you’re really wound up.” She stuffed the cork back in the bottle and turned so she was facing the brunette. “If she doesn’t show, she doesn’t show. No big deal, we’ll think of something else.” She threw a glance towards the couch where Kenzi was shouting frustrated obscenities at the TV. “Maybe we can bug the brat.”

“I _heard_ that!” Kenzi shouted, turning away from her game long enough to launch a couch pillow towards Tamsin though it landed pitifully short of its intended target.

“I’m serious, Tamsin.” Bo warned. “I know you don’t trust humans, but I trust Lauren and we need,”

“Oh my god, save the speech.” The valkyrie interrupted, rolling her eyes and pulling out an unmarked bottle from the back of the collection that she recognized as the scotch Kenzi had talked her out of. “You don’t know shit, Nancy Drew. I told her yesterday.” She said, casually pouring the contents of the rum bottle into a flask she procured from the inside of her jacket. “I also told her to be here by twelve thirty and if she didn’t want to do it _I_ wasn’t going to make her and I doubt _you_ would. The wolf might.” She threw a pointed glance over at the dumbstruck succubus. “You seem to have him on a pretty tight lead though so maybe pull the leash a little if it comes to it.”

“That’s…that was thoughtful of you.” Bo replied, clearly taken aback but obviously suspicious. “Why did you…”

“Why do I do anything I do?” Tamsin interjected again, thinking not for the first time that she’d like Bo a lot better if less words came out of her mouth while taking a long draught directly from the bottle before corking it and putting it back where she’d found it. “Leave a girl to have some mystery, whydontcha?”

Bo narrowed her gaze at the blonde, feeling herself stiffen in annoyance but before she could say anything, there was a tentative knock at the door.

“She’s got a selfless sense of morality, you gotta hand her that.” Tamsin murmured towards the door. If Bo heard her, she didn’t say so though when she left the kitchen to answer the door, she wasn’t surprised to see the human doctor on the other side.

“So we’re knocking now?” Bo teased gently, smiling brightly when Lauren chuckled.

“I lost the key.” She admitted sheepishly, returning the smile hesitantly as the brunette continued to stare at her intently.

“Just break it down like everyone else does.” Kenzi announced from behind Bo, having slid up behind her best friend without either of the other two women noticing.

Bo shook her head and made a sweeping gesture for the human to enter the clubhouse. She glared at Kenzi’s retreating back as she followed the two humans into the living room, immediately noticing something she really didn’t want to. Seeing people’s auras was something Bo was used to, she didn’t even remember what it was like not to, there was always a sort of greyish light around people’s frames. Normally, she didn’t pay it any attention as it only indicated a low level of interest; it was when it started to appear blue, which indicated sexual and even romantic interest that it ever caught her notice and when it began to grow in size was when it would hold her attention.

She liked being around Kenzi not just because the younger human was basically her surrogate sister, but her aura never flashed blue for her. It was a nice break if she was being honest with herself. Being surrounded by blue hues hovering around people all the time did awful things to her need to feed. Some, she definitely savored, though. Like Lauren’s. She had grown so terribly used to the intense blue Lauren had that even when she saw it diminish, she told herself that because it wasn’t gone, there was nothing wrong and she still had time to make things right. Even when she’d started seeing Lauren’s aura flash blues when Tamsin was near her at the Dal, she wrote it off rather quickly. After all, she was probably fueled by alcohol and Tamsin was very attractive, though Bo liked her even more so when she wasn’t being a snarky bitch. And Bo could certainly admit that entertaining the idea of the three of them together wasn’t exactly horrible.

But that day at the lab she had seen Lauren’s aura spark in a way she didn’t realize she’d missed until she saw it and then registered that she wasn’t looking at her, but _past_ her. She was more than a little crushed when she turned to see who was there and saw the Valkyrie, burning just as bright. She had decided then to reassert herself as a romantic constant in the doctor’s life but even though that had less than desirable results, she wasn’t ready to let go. But now, watching the two acknowledge each other, it was all she could do not to shuffle her feet across the room and pout while doing it. Their greeting was innocuous enough, Lauren saying hi, Tamsin nodding her head and giving her a half-smile, but Bo could see what they felt and it was undeniable and although she’d known about it, it didn’t mean she had to like it when it was being rubbed in her face.

“Earth to Bobo.” Kenzi said, pulling her from her thoughts by waving her hands in front of her face. A look of concern crossed her features and she gently grabbed Bo’s arm, pulling her into her personal space. “Are you okay?” she asked in a hushed tone.

Bo shook her head and shrugged. “Don’t worry about it.” She replied, smiling as best she could to ease her friend’s worry. “We’ve got to go over the plans and we’ve not got a lot of time.” She said louder, stepping away from the slight human who flopped on the couch between the doctor and the Dark Fae.

“Well _some_ one was cutting it close.” Kenzi said, holding up a hand to block Lauren’s vision and pointing at the other human with her other hand. Shrugging guiltily and mouthing ‘what?’ when Bo glared at her.

Bo shook her head and paced slightly in front of the trio, slipping into work mode. “So, Dyson’s at the warehouse already, keeping track of who’s coming and going. He’s staked out by what seems to be the main entrance. When we get there, we’re going to seal the side entrance and me, Tamsin, and Dyson are going to have eyes on it at all times. You two,” she continued, gesturing towards the two humans. “Are going to be posing as buyers, specifically an artifacts dealer and her associate.”

“Ooo! Can I be the dealer?” Kenzi asked excitedly, earning incredulous stares from the other three women. She frowned and crossed her arms indignantly. “You guys suck.”

“ _Anyways_ , you’re going to be an artifacts dealer and her associate. Kenz, I want you to make the rounds, see who looks like a buyer and who looks like a seller. Talk people up, okay?”

“Can do.” She replied, saluting Bo.

“And don’t touch _anything_.” Tamsin asserted firmly.

“How many times are you guys going to tell me that? I only grabbed a fae thingy that one time and I do _not_ want to get my hand stuck to another Staff of Righteousness. I’m not gonna touch anything… even if it _does_ give me super cool Matrix ninja powers.”

“What do you want me to do?” Lauren asked.

“Try and see if there’s a way to disable the ward on the main door.” Bo explained. “Don’t spend too much time on it, though. You’ve got to check out what they’re selling, take a mental inventory. Maybe the type of stuff they’re selling will give us a clue as to whose running this thing. Once the bidding starts, I want you guys to stay together. Lauren, I want you to bid on something. Anything as long as it looks important enough to where you’re going to have to deal with someone high on the food chain to collect. Try not to win, but if you do, let Kenzi talk your way out of the building. If _anything_ happens, if something doesn’t feel right, I want you guys to get out of there right away. Understood?”

She waited for them to nod their understanding before glancing over at Tamsin, who nodded as well and rose off the couch. “Come on, kids.” The Valkyrie said on her way towards the door. “Auction starts in an hour and I’m not getting paid for this so I’d rather we get it over with as soon as possible.”

 

ooo

  

Bo wrung her hands and shifted her weight from side to side while craning her neck to peer between Dyson and Tamsin’s shoulders as they stood in a tree line off to the side to see the simple looking metal door set into the side of the warehouse.

“I swear on every being in the nine worlds that if you don’t stop fidgeting, I’m going to lose my shit.” Tamsin muttered, not tearing her eyes away from the entrance.

Bo made a face behind the Valkyrie’s back but balled her fists at her side in an attempt to keep still. “I’m just worried.” She defended herself, her tone annoyed. “How are we going to know they’re okay in there?”

Dyson turned slightly so he could see her and smiled gently. “It’s only been five minutes since they closed the door.” He informed her softly. “They’re going to be okay, Bo. They’re smart, they’ll be careful.”

“I know, I know but I just…if anything happens to them…”

“If anything happens, we’ll be here.” He reminded her.

“You people are too much.” Tamsin said grumpily after turning to roll her eyes at the doe eyed expressions on their faces. She pulled a hand through her ponytail and straightened her jacket. “I’m gonna go see if the ward is still up.”

“Is it bad that I’m kinda hoping it’s still up?” Bo asked when the valkyrie was out of earshot.

“You don’t mean that.” The wolf shifter replied, but he was chuckling.

“…I do a little.” She admitted, but she winced when the blonde was forcefully and violently jerked backwards, landing several feet away on her back so hard that Bo felt the air leave her lungs out of sympathy. She started to rush out of their cover to make sure the other woman was okay but Dyson pulled her back just as she was passing him, shaking his head.

“Still up?” Dyson asked mirthfully as Tamsin tromped back to where they were standing.

“Go catch a rabbit or something.” The valkyrie responded sourly and leant against the closest tree, waving Bo off as she hesitantly advanced on her with a concerned look on her face. “How long have they been in there, anyways?”

 

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

“What do you think?” Kenzi asked lowly, sliding up to Lauren who was looking over a long table with rows of white index cards on it.

“It’s hard to tell what exactly things are from just the labels.” Lauren admitted quietly, guiding the younger woman away from the table so they wouldn’t be overheard. “There’s definitely some things I don’t think even the most altruistic of people would use in a good way though. Did you talk to anyone?”

“Yeah.” She pointed her gaze towards a serious looking rotund man in a sports coat on the far side of the warehouse that was standing where the auction would take place. “Winston Churchill over there is about as high up as I got. He says he’s going to be calling the auction but I couldn’t get him to spill about whose running the show. Did you figure out how to take the wards down?”

Lauren shook her head, pulling her gaze away from the portly man before he noticed they were staring. “I’d need to see physical evidence of it. Usually, it’s a line of colored powder just inside the area being blocked off but there’s nothing near the door that would even indicate a ward. At least not by the way we came in. I’ve not gotten a chance to check the side door, I didn’t want to be conspicuous.”

Kenzi nodded in agreement and was about to suggest they make another round since the auction was going to start soon but hesitated when she saw a woman approaching them. “Incoming.” She whispered when Lauren’s expression looked questioning. The blonde turned to see who would be walking towards them and stiffened immediately.

“Lauren!” The approaching woman greeted brightly, smiling as she stopped in front of them. “I thought that was you! I’m incredibly surprised to see you. What are you doing here? This isn’t exactly a place for a medical professional.”

Kenzi looked back and forth between the two women, not bothering to hide the confusion on her face. The woman was tall and lean with long red locks and eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses. She didn’t register as anyone Kenzi had seen before and she watched as the blonde responded to the greeting with a tight-lipped smile and an incline of her head.

“Rona…” Lauren started, sounding unsure of herself. “I can’t say that I expected you here either. I don’t…I don’t really practice anymore. I’ve gotten into artifacts lately.”

The woman lowered her glasses to peer at the blonde in natural light, revealing that her eyes were a bright shade of yellow. “These…artifacts are rather unusual. How did you hear about the auction?”

Kenzi bit down on the inside of her cheeks to keep from jumping into the conversation before she needed to. She had had a cover story all planned out but hadn’t told Lauren about it since she assumed she would be doing most of the talking.

“I only deal in the unusual.” Lauren replied, her demeanor still tense though her voice sounded more confident. “The stranger the better. I was talking to a client who said he’d been very happy with some… curious animals he purchased here and decided to check it out.”

Rona nodded as if the answer satisfied her and turned her aurulent gaze onto Kenzi, giving her an obvious appraisal before smiling and pushing her sunglasses back up, making the dark haired human uncomfortable. “Whose your friend?” the redhead asked, somehow making the question sound terribly lascivious. “She doesn’t really seem like your type, if I recall correctly.”

“Oh, no, we’re not…” Kenzi started automatically before being interrupted by Lauren.

“She’s my assistant.” The doctor said, stepping slightly in front of Kenzi as if she were going to have to shield her from something.

The redhead laughed and shrugged her shoulders slightly. “I guess, if that’s what you’re into.” She replied flippantly, making it clear she didn’t believe her. “Anyways, stick around after the auction. There’s some stuff we hang onto that knowing you, you might be interested in and I’d like to catch up.” She snickered as if she’d said something funny. “If your _assistant_ doesn’t mind.” She waved her hand in dismissal and strode away from them towards where the auction would center.

“Do you think we look coupley?” Kenzi wondered before derailing her own train of thought with a sudden realization. “Wait, did she say _we_ just then?” she elbowed Lauren gently to make sure she was paying attention. “Is she fae? I mean her eyes have some serious Island of Dr. Moreau thing going on and waitaminute, how do you even know her?” she put a hand on her hip and frowned at the implications of this new information.

“Rona is human.” Lauren supplied, hanging back slightly as the man in the sports coat took his place behind a podium that had been wheeled up and announced that the auction would begin in three minutes. “She’s a venefica.”

“A what now?”

“Venefica.” Lauren repeated, searching for the right words to explain. “A sort of witch. They don’t really have any powers on their own besides immunity to most toxins. They get their abilities from ingesting potions, most of which are poisonous. Everything about them is poisonous. Even if one spit on you, if they’ve been in training a long time, they could put a full grown man in a hospital.”

“Yikes. How do you happen to know that about her?”

“I met her a long time ago when…shortly after I first signed my fealty away to the Light. I thought she could help. As far as I know she doesn’t know anything about the fae. I haven’t even seen her in nearly eight years.” They moved with the last of the stragglers towards the group gathering near the podium. “Kenzi, maybe we should go. Rona is dangerous.”

“No way.” She whispered hotly. “We knew this was going to be dangerous and this is good, right? Maybe we can figure out whose running this thing.”

Lauren hummed in agreement but still looked uncomfortable, watching as the auctioneer opened the bidding on a small ‘mysterious cabinet’ that materialized on the low table near the podium, the doors bound shut by a heavy chain.

“Bid on that. It looks dangerous.” Kenzi said softly.

“It’s not.” The blonde assured. “The chain is probably for show. It’s just a cabinet. Looks muse made. They probably won’t sell anything worth our attention until near the end.”

The younger woman refrained from letting out an annoyed groan. There were a lot of labels on that table.

 

ooo 

 

“What’s going on in there?” Bo asked anxiously for the fifth time, knowing from the uneasy expression on Tamsin’s face that she wouldn’t reprimand her for asking again.

“They should be out by now.” Dyson agreed, his voice calm but his jaw clenched. “I didn’t expect them to stay for the whole auction.”

“Maybe that’s because something happened.” Bo fretted, gnawing nervously on her thumbnail. It had been nearly two hours since they’d watched the two women in question disappear into the warehouse, during which time, she and Tamsin had tested the wards repeatedly. Even Dyson had tried once, earning nothing but the wind knocked out of him just like every other time. “Maybe we should try the door again.”

“Be my guest.” Tamsin said flatly, gesturing towards the open space where the warehouse sat.

“At least I’m trying to do something.” Bo countered, frowning. “What’s _your_ bright idea?”

The Valkyrie shrugged. “Wait for the little gnats to come out and start knocking the marrow out of their bones until words come out.”

“Hey, something’s happening.” Dyson interrupted, pointing as people began streaming out of the building

“Perfect.” Bo announced, looking at Tamsin to make sure she was serious about her plan and starting to march out of the tree line when the valkyrie nodded firmly.

“Not yet.” The shifter scolded, stepping in front of the women.

“You can’t stop us both.” Bo pointed out.

“Just wait and see if they come out first. If we blow cover now, we’ll not get another chance to do this.”

“I hate it when you’re right.” The succubus complained, backing up, causing Tamsin to retreat as well. “If they’re not out in three minutes, we’re following those people and going with Tamsin’s plan.”

Dyson nodded his agreement and the trio turned their attentions back to the warehouse, willing the familiar sight of the two humans to appear.

 

ooo 

 

“I’m second guessing not leaving.” Kenzi whispered while the last of the bidders left the building and they were watching Rona, the auctioneer, and a well-built man she was sure she’d not seen on her go around before the auction talk to each other.

“Then talk us out of here.” Lauren whispered back, feigning a smile as Rona waved them over.

“So what did you think?” The redhead asked when they reached the little gathering. “You must not have been too impressed, your bidding was half hearted and you didn’t buy anything.”

Kenzi made a dismissive motion with her hand. “Please, you must think we’re new. You expect us to come in fresh without casing the stock up for sale? There’s going to have to be something far more interesting than an old medicine cabinet with chains wrapped around it or a sword that summons fire if you want any money. I can get any of that with a couple phone calls for half of your starting price. Maybe next time, if there’s even anything worth buying.”

Rona smiled but it was hard to tell if the gesture was sincere since she was still wearing her sunglasses. “Your _friend_ is pretty discerning.” She said appreciatively.

“ _Assistant_.” Kenzi corrected, earning a sidelong glance from the blonde.

“The collection wasn’t as…unusual as we were led to believe.” Lauren said disinterestedly.

Rona visibly bristled as if she had been personally slighted before shrugging it off. “I should have known you’d be more particular.” She said, her tone not showing any of her resentment, if indeed she still felt any. “It takes a lot to procure these things, even the more useless items. I can get you an appointment with the owner, he keeps the more interesting items only for those who are serious.” She confided. “How much are you willing to spend?”

“Money is no object.” Kenzi assured with conviction.

Rona appeared pleased by that and nodded. “Excellent. Come with me.” She casually waved her hand and a large black door appeared in the middle of the warehouse floor.

“An appointment, now?” Kenzi asked, the pitch in her voice rising. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

The redhead frowned slightly. “Are you serious, or not? I’m doing you a favor, here.”

“Right, and we _really_ appreciate it, but you caught us off guard.” She replied quickly. “We’re going to need some time to take stock of current inventory, talk to a client or two, you know? We didn’t come all this way to rush into anything, I’m sure you understand.”

There was silence between the three women for a tense moment, the only sound being the low hum of the lights overhead and the mummer of the auctioneer talking to the new man but Rona waved her hand again and the door disappeared. “You’re right.” She said finally, putting her hand in her back pocket and pulling out a business card. “Meet me here tomorrow night at eight.”

Lauren took the business card and glanced at the address. It was more or less in the middle of neutral territory, which didn’t tell her anything. She needed to find a way to know if the location was going to be warded. “This is a pretty public office. Is it safe?” she fished.

Rona nodded enthusiastically. “Don’t worry. There’s a way to keep undesirables out, we won’t be bothered by anyone that matters.”

“Great!” Kenzi exclaimed, taking the card from Lauren and placing a hand on the blonde’s shoulders to lead her away. “See you then!”

“Don’t be late.” The redhead called after them as they exited the building.

“We were about to storm in and get you.” Bo said excitedly, resisting the urge to pull them into a hug as they joined them just behind the tree line. “We were really worried.”

“We’re fine.” Kenzi replied waving the business card. “Better than fine. We’ve got an appointment with the boss, whoever he is.”

“Kenzi, that’s great!” Bo said taking the card from her friend and studying it, her face falling slightly as she did so. “The address doesn’t tell us much, does it? That far removed from Light or Dark borders, it could be anyone. But you know it’s a guy? Was he in there?” she trained her gaze back towards the warehouse door.

The dark haired woman shook her head and looked over at Lauren whose eyes seemed to be pleading with her not to say anything about her connection with Rona. “Nope, he wasn’t in there but his head go-fer or security or whatever really seemed to like our good doctor here.” She covered. “Chicky gave us the card and told us to meet up at eight tomorrow night.”

“Is she coming out? It seems a little asinine to go through all that tomorrow when we can just get it out of her now.” Tamsin spoke up.

“Sorry, I know drinking, screwing, and fighting are the only ways to pump the ice water through your cold Nordic heart but there’s some serious portal making going on. The head broad is a, um…” she looked to Lauren for help.

“She’s a venefica.” The blonde supplied, explaining what that meant when Bo’s expression remained blank.

“How would you even know something like that?” the succubus asked.

Kenzi opened her mouth to say something; anything to cover for the doctor but Lauren didn’t need it.

“Her eyes were gold.” She clarified easily. “When a venefica consumes a potion, their eyes turn gold for the duration of the effects. I’m guessing she was causing the auction items to materialize.”

The succubus nodded her understanding and the small group began to make their way back to where the vehicles were parked. “Guess we’ll have to pick this up again tomorrow.”

“She implied there would be wards in this new location too.” Lauren said as they walked up a gravel road away from the warehouses.

“Did you figure out how to bypass it?” Dyson asked, sighing when Lauren shook her head.

“There wasn’t any trace of a ward I could see. It must be something really advanced. I don’t think the same kind of ward will be used tomorrow, though. The one on the warehouse was something high level enough to throw fae backwards a good distance.”

“That’s an understatement.” Bo mumbled.

“I think something that big would be impractical in a more confined space. Hopefully it’s something weaker, something more tangible but I think it would have similar effects.”

“I’ll go talk to Trick and see if he knows any way around wards.” The shifter said, pulling the keys to his car out of his pocket. “I’ll see what I can do about setting up a surveillance spot close by. It shouldn’t be too hard in the neutral zone.”

“It’s okay, we’ll go to the Dal and ask about the wards.” Bo said, catching the keys Kenzi lobbed gently at her. “Maybe Trick knows something that will help even if he doesn’t know how to get around them.” She glanced over at Tamsin and Lauren, cringing internally at the blues swirling around them. It wouldn’t be so bad if they were doing it on purpose, then she could pretend it was for spite. She returned the smile Lauren gave her when the doctor caught her staring and slipped into the drivers side of her car, waiting for Kenzi to take up her position as co-pilot and left the two blondes standing near Tamsin’s truck.

“C’mon, doc.” The valkyrie started, pulling open the passenger’s side door for the human. “I’ll take you home.”

Lauren nodded and got into the vehicle, fidgeting silently nearly the whole way back to her apartment as she came to an internal decision.

“You alright?” Tamsin prodded gently when she finally cut off the engine and the human still hadn’t moved.

“Do you want a drink?” Lauren asked instead, looking over at her.

“Is that even a serious question?” the valkyrie retorted, raising an eyebrow.

The doctor smiled and shook her head, opening the door. “No, not really, but it’s polite to ask instead of assuming.” She pointed out, waiting for Tamsin to get out and lock the doors before starting up the path that led to her front door.

“What do you want to drink?” Lauren asked as she unlocked the door and led them into the apartment, leaving the Dark Fae to fold herself gracefully onto the couch while Lauren made a beeline for a liquor cabinet that Tamsin had mistaken for a credenza.

“Whatever you got that’s going to make my eyes water.” She answered, tilting her head slightly to admire the curve of Lauren’s backside as she bent in front of the cabinet. She smiled unapologetically when the doctor turned around with an unmarked bottle in her hand, catching her staring.

“I don’t have the kind of stomach it takes to process the pure ethanol and paint remover you’re used to.” Lauren teased, setting the bottle of dark liquid on the top of the cabinet and collecting two glasses from inside the door.

“You wound me, doc.” Tamsin informed her, watching as she filled one tumbler two-thirds of the way and the other less than a quarter of the way. “I’ll have you know that I have a _highly_ perceptive palate when it comes to appreciating alcohol. I just don’t have a very discriminating one.”

“Well see how you perceive this.” Lauren goaded, placing the fuller glass in her hand and sitting what would probably be considered too close to her, given that the couch was empty. She smiled as Tamsin made a show of smelling the contents of the glass and shook her head, taking a small gulp of her own glass.

“Shit.” The Valkyrie breathed out after taking a large mouthful and swallowing. “This is serious scotch, doc.” She took another healthy drink. “You know, I really wouldn’t have pegged you for a dark liquors straight up kinda girl.”

“Just because I’m not drinking thirteen hours a day doesn’t mean I don’t drink at all.” She said smiling into her glass as she took another taste.

Tamsin laughed and raised her drink slightly. “Fair enough.” She conceded, watching the doctor put her glass on the coffee table as she finished off the contents of her own. “So what’s going on?”

“What do you mean?” Lauren countered apprehensively.

Tamsin rolled her eyes and shrugged. “I dunno… you just seemed real tense earlier. But it sounded like everything went okay with the auction… are you okay?”

The human nodded; surprised that she’d picked up on her anxiousness over Rona from earlier though she was still feeling a hard knot in her stomach about how tomorrow evening would pan out and maybe it showed. There was a pretty good chance that Rona would tell whoever she was working for about where she knew Lauren from and that would certainly make the meeting more risky, given that there weren’t too many human doctors nosing around for information on reviving comatose girlfriends at the time she met Rona. She vaguely registered that Tamsin had said something and pulled herself out of her nervousness to look at the other woman who was regarding her with an expectant expression. “I’m sorry, what did you say?” she asked, shaking her head to clear the cobwebs.

“I said turn around.” The valkyrie repeated. “You’re obviously full of shit.” She explained when the doctor looked at her questioningly instead of doing as she was asked. “You don’t have to tell me what’s wrong, but you’re the most stressed out person I know. Lemme help.”

Lauren watched the other woman’s face for a moment, looking for something, but for what, she wasn’t sure. Finally, she nodded, still not sure what she had been looking for or if she’d found it, and stood up, shedding the white button down she had been wearing over her tank top and rearranged herself in front of Tamsin on the couch with her back to her. Her eyes slid closed and an inaudible sigh escaped her the moment she felt warm hands on her shoulders, allowing her head to loll forward as the hands kneaded the flesh beneath them. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting, really. She had never thought of Tamsin as the type to give massages, it seem far too tactile an activity given her personality, but the way her hands were manipulating the muscles in her shoulders and back of her neck showcased that not only did the Valkyrie probably have some professional training, but she was very skillful as well.

“How the hell do you even move around without a shitload of relaxants?” Tamsin asked seriously after several minutes, moving her hands down the curve of the doctor’s shoulder blades.

Lauren chuckled but didn’t answer and tilted her head from side to side, enjoying the slightly bruised feeling that the loosening muscles left her with. “How did you get so good at this?” she sighed out, breaking a long moment of quietude.

“Are you kidding?” the valkyrie answered, sliding her hands back up to the curve made by the doctor’s shoulders connecting to her neck. “Before we got all this hands off battle technology, it was harder to deal. A valkyrie’s life was war.” She confided, moving one hand to smooth out the muscles on Lauren’s lower back. “Sometimes it still is. Even with the powers, you still gotta fight and I dunno if you’ve ever swung a steel sword or a pole-arm around for the better part of the day, but as fun as it is, that shit is havoc on the muscles. You get ways to cope, or get a cramp mid swing and you get dead.”

“Of course.” The human replied in a tone that betrayed she felt ridiculous for not having thought of the most obvious answer to her own question.

“Plus, it’s pretty popular with the womenfolk.” Tamsin added and though Lauren couldn’t see her, she heard the smirk in her voice. She bit down a groan when the valkyrie hit a particularly sensitive spot and sucked in a sharp breath when she felt the Dark Fae’s warm breath near her ear. “You wouldn’t honestly think,” she started in a low purr, causing warmth to wash over Lauren. “That I wouldn’t have the skills to back up all my shit talking, would ya, doc?” She slid her hands to Lauren’s sides to stabilize her when she started to sway slightly but didn’t venture further. 

Tamsin heard the doctor swallow hard and allowed herself a self-satisfied smile, having achieved the desired reaction. She started leaning away and began to drag her hands back to the muscles near the base of Lauren’s spine but she was taken off guard when the other woman’s hands reached to grip her wrists, keeping her from continuing the massage and pulling her forward. The valkyrie obeyed the pull, not having intended to derail her ministrations but not minding in the slightest, enjoying how both of their breathing rates quickened in anticipation. Lauren let go of one of Tamsin’s wrists and reached backwards to grip the top of the Dark Fae’s head, slightly craning her neck to guide their lips together. 

Unlike their first kiss, which had paralyzed them both with its reality for a few moments, their tongues met almost immediately, the fae leaning in as far as she could to wrap one arm around the doctor’s stomach and tangle a hand in her loose locks, practically picking her up to help her push herself onto her lap. Tamsin registered a desperate whimper but was only sure it had come from Lauren because she could feel the sound reverberate through the human’s body. The low moan when Lauren managed to fully turn herself around and roughly pushed her down on the couch had most assuredly come from her own throat though. She gripped the human’s hips and gasped partly from need for air and partly from Lauren having moved to run her tongue along the contours of her ear. Tamsin bit down hard on the flesh of the doctor’s shoulder as she traced wet circles with her tongue down the side of her sensitive neck, causing the human to cry out and dig her nails into the valkyrie’s sides which only made her jerk her hips upwards.

Tamsin’s lips found the younger blonde’s and she shuddered as Lauren hummed her pleasure at having her bottom lip sucked and nipped at. She was running her hands along the inside of Lauren’s shirt, making an obvious move to unhook the doctor’s bra when the shrill polyphonic ring of her cellphone cut through the sounds of heavy panting and nonverbal vocalizations “Shit.” Tamsin hissed loudly at the same time Lauren let out a displeased groan. The valkyrie sat up when Lauren moved away from her, pulling the offending object from her pocket and answering the call.

“What?” she demanded, her voice husky but unquestionably displaying her annoyance. “Uh-huh.” She intoned, trying to pull her gaze away from the human so she could concentrate. “Shit, right now? … You people are killing me.” she gripped her phone tighter, wishing it was the neck of the deputy that called her. “Fine. I’ll be there in a minute.” She hung up the phone and resisted throwing it by shoving it violently back into her front pocket.

“Work?” Lauren asked, her own voice still breathless. 

“Work.” Tamsin confirmed with distaste. She leaned forward, running a hand up Lauren’s arm and onto her shoulder, kissing her several times before reluctantly pulling back and getting off the couch. “Rain check?” she asked, appreciating the other blonde’s slightly disheveled appearance. 

“Definitely.” Lauren confirmed, walking the Valkyrie to the door. “Maybe tomorrow night if we can figure out what’s going on?”

“We’ll figure it out.” Tamsin assured, pulling open the door and walking down the path. “See ya, doc.” She only resisted turning around to hide the wide grin on her face.


	8. Chapter 8

Lauren concentrated her gaze on the world outside the car to quell the irritation she felt from continually catching Dyson glancing over at her from the driver’s seat. She wished someone else had come to pick her up from the lab, but Tamsin had gone from the 39th division straight to the clubhouse to ‘big the brat’ and fit Kenzi with hidden surveillance and of course Bo was with Kenzi, so that left Dyson to take her to the designated meeting spot in the neutral zone. There had been a time when Lauren had first been bound to the Ash that she and the shifter were on much more friendly terms. He was the one who had helped her navigate the new world she found herself in. He took it upon himself to introduce her to Trick who had proved to be more useful than a lot of the books in the Ash’s own archives over the years and the wolf had usually been the most pleasant face she saw all day a lot of the time. Dyson had always been the one to give her a morale boost when she felt like she wasn’t getting anywhere with helping her girlfriend and when the despair of her situation would become overwhelming.

Approaching the third year of her servitude however, when her work had since become habitually more focused on fae related business than on finding a cure for Nadia, she had gone to the Dal one night after getting out of the lab. It had become usual for her to do that, unlike the initial year of her enslavement where she would work nearly around the clock; in the first several months, she had in fact, collapsed from mental and physical exhaustion a number of times often leaving her work only on official mandate from the Ash. Eventually, she had been forbidden from the lab more than two hours after everyone else left though once she’d learnt to manage her time that rule was rarely enforced. After more than two years of nothing but dead ends and no leads, she took to actually going home or to the Dal when she wasn’t required to be anywhere. When she’d gotten to the Dal that particular night, she took up a corner of the bar to herself as she was wont to do and was perfectly content with not thinking and sampling beers when a svelte fae woman slid up to the bar.

Lauren knew the woman, her name was Isabelle and she saw her around the Light Fae compound a lot. She did something for the Ash, but she was never sure what. They were on friendly terms, which was a relief to Lauren since when she’d first been thrown into the fae world, she was generally met with derision, ambivalence being the most hoped for reaction. The doctor was fairly fond of the fae woman. She was kind and witty and reminded her a lot of Nadia, even in looks but even so, her flirtation had been unwelcome at first. Dyson had explained to her within the first few days of becoming ward of the Ash that although human/fae sexual relationships happened frequently, romantic relationships were frowned on and depending on the intensity could be outright forbidden.

She had shrugged it off, figuring she would only be ‘employed’ as she called it then, by the Light for maybe six months tops and her desperate need to fix what was wrong with Nadia made it so she couldn’t fathom playfully entertaining the idea of even platonic flirting. But as time wore on, her resolve wore down and she found herself responding to and returning Isabelle’s advances. That night, when Isabelle had been her usual charming self, when she had whispered playfully into her ear, when Lauren realized that it had been almost three years and Nadia was still lying in a locked room, oblivious to the world around her and neither of them was going anywhere anytime soon, she physically felt part of herself let go. Lauren didn’t feel guilty when the fae kept finding excuses to touch her, she didn’t feel guilty when Isabelle took her hand and led her into the cool darkness of the buttery and she didn’t feel guilty when they finally kissed. In fact, the only guilt she felt was when Dyson had walked in on them, Lauren propped up against a barrel full of mead, her legs wrapped around Isabelle’s waist and raking her fingernails down the fae’s back while Isabelle had one earth colored hand tangled in her hair, yanking her head backwards for better access to her neck.

Dyson had reprimanded her as if she was a child, and she supposed to him, she was. Though she was truly sorry for disappointing him and had said as much, their relationship dynamics had changed that night. She still considered him her friend, the only one she really had, but he had taken on an added dimension of strict supervisor. Over enforcing the stipulations of her conditional slavery at every turn. The Ash never spoke to her about her indiscretion with Isabelle, but she had been mysteriously assigned to another area and Lauren only ever saw her in passing for a few months before she stopped seeing her at all which she always suspected had more to do with Dyson than the Ash since to date, none of the Ash’s had ever spared her feelings or were hesitant to point out her mistakes for any reason. After that, the doctor kept mostly to herself, trying to bury her feelings of isolation by feeding her fascination with Fae research work. Sure, she’d had a few more ‘incidents’ but never with Fae staying in the area, lest Dyson have a coronary. It wasn’t a satisfying way to live. She needed companionship but tried to force herself to be happy with what she could get away with. That was, of course, until she had met Bo which had opened up a whole new set of problems and not just between her and the shifter. She sighed and looked over at him, just catching him returning his eyes to the road.

“Are you going to say something?” she asked, surprised her voice didn’t sound anywhere near as fed up as she felt.

“What do you want me to say?” he countered not looking at her.

“You’ve been looking at me like you’ve wanted to say something since I got in the car.”

“I’m just…” he started, clenching the steering wheel tightly as he searched for the right words. “I’m concerned.”

“About what?” although given the familiarity of the statement, she was sure she knew.

“You and Tamsin.” He replied, confirming her suspicions.

Lauren smiled humorlessly, deciding to play to the script. “What about me and Tamsin?”

“It’s not a good idea.” He said after a moment. “It could get very messy and dangerous… for both of you. She’s Dark, Lauren.”

The human genuinely wanted to laugh at the sentiment but cleared her throat to kill the feeling. If he replaced Tamsin’s name with Bo’s and Dark with Unaligned, they had had this exact conversation several years ago so it was almost comical he’d say the same thing, already knowing how fruitful this little talk had been last time. It wasn’t up to him. It was up to her and the valkyrie, but given Dyson’s self-imposed role as enforcer of his own morality code on her, it was likely he didn’t and wouldn’t see it that way. She looked back out of the passenger’s side window, wanting to respond acerbically about how she was well aware of Tamsin’s alignment, what that meant and how familiar she was with the rules after over eight years of them. She wanted to force him to the realization that his policing her behavior was hypocritical at best and outright cruel at worst. Though if she were honest, it was someplace between the two despite his altruistic pretenses.

“I can’t survive under your laws.” She said finally looking at him, her voice quiet but firm.

The shifter looked over at her with sympathy in his eyes. “I know it’s hard, but…”

“No, you _don’t_ know.” She interrupted bitterly.

“But the fae laws are…” he continued gently.

“I don’t mean the fae laws.” Lauren clarified firmly. “I mean _your_ laws, Dyson. Can you imagine living the way you’ve wanted me to for the rest of your life? The restraints of my enslavement are strict enough as it is without you. It’s a miserable existence. I tried to live up to your expectations and I can’t do it. _No one_ can do it.”

“You had a chance to leave.” He brought up, though she wasn’t sure if he genuinely thought that or he was trying to deflect blame off of himself.

“No I didn’t.” she replied, both of them knowing she was right. He of all people should realize that there was no way she would have left Bo just for her own self-preservation. Even now, if she had the chance to escape, she didn’t think she would. She considered the little core group her friends, her family even, despite how dysfunctional that last thought was. At any rate, she was too far removed from the human world to ever integrate back into it fully again. She knew too much. More than a lot of fae doctors, and she knew she was exceedingly valuable not just to the Light but to the fae in general and if she ran away, she would be under her own protection; she wasn’t completely useless in a fistfight but she was certainly not a fighter by nature and wouldn’t be any match for even the weakest fae except by catching them completely off guard. Unless her memories were erased, and she knew too much for that to be an option, she had come to accept that she was going to owe fealty to a fae for the rest of her life even if she were miraculously released from her current bondage. At least if she made the choice to stay, she was picking her owner rather than leaving it up to chance. “Despite what Kenzi says, I _do_ have my own feelings and needs.” She pointed out.

“I know you do. It’s not easy being a human in your position.” Dyson answered and Lauren bit her tongue to keep herself from blurting out that she was acutely aware of that and didn’t need to be reminded. “You’re in a more precarious position than someone like Kenzi… I’m just trying to protect you.”

The doctor knew there was truth in his response but she refrained from mentioning that a lot of his ‘protection’ since Bo had shown up had a lot more to do with keeping them away from each other and outright encouraging her to run away at one point despite knowing the consequences as well as she than deference to her safety. Still, she knew the wolf did care about her in his own mildly self-possessed way and his heart was generally in the right place. “Not everyone needs to be protected all the time.” She said as they pulled into a spot edging a curb. “And even if they did, you can’t protect everyone all the time.” She added as they got out of the car, thinking more of his tendency to smother people, especially Bo, with his White Knight Syndrome. Still, she returned the smile he gave her as they walked into an unimpressive office building.

“Just be careful, is all.” He said as they stepped off the elevator and walked down the hallway, stopping halfway so he could rap gently on a door. His tone suggested they weren’t done talking about it.

She nodded, slipping into the room ahead of him when Kenzi opened the door. Her eyes were immediately drawn to Tamsin who was fiddling with the device that would allow them to hear what was being spoken once Kenzi’s surveillance tap was turned on. The valkyrie looked up when she felt eyes on her and smiled her greeting, holding her gaze for a minute before Lauren turned away to find Dyson regarding her uncomfortably. She could tell he was trying not to say something so she gave him a slight smile in appreciative recognition and turned to sweep the rest of the room.

“Where’s Bo?” she voiced, not seeing the succubus anywhere in the spacious conference room.

“She’ll be here.” Kenzi assured, flopping over in a rolling office chair and swinging herself back and forth in half circles with her feet. “Trick said we’d better not go in with anything fae in case the wards pick up on it.” She tugged at a nondescript chain around her neck with a medium sized locket attached. She flicked the locket open with her fingers, revealing a small microphone before snapping it closed. “Hence the old fashioned wiring. Bo stayed behind at Trick’s to try and find a way around any wards with no evidence of, um,” she circled her hands around each other as if that would help her find the word she was looking for. “Wardiness. But don’t worry, you know she wouldn’t let us go in there without her watching our backs.”

“We’ll be here,” Dyson started, checking his watch. “We’re directly underneath the meeting room you’re going to. I think it would be best if you showed up early, hopefully you’ll get there first and you can either see her put the ward down or if we’re lucky, she may not do it if she’s being watched. If anything happens, we’ll be up there as fast as we can.”

“And if there’s a ward?” Kenzi mumbled, standing up and heading towards the door.

“We’ll have to trust that Bo and Trick have found something useful.” He said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder and squeezing gently. “If not, we’ll figure something out.”

“Be careful, you guys.” Tamsin said, addressing them both but looking at Lauren.

The doctor nodded and followed the smaller woman out of the room and to the elevators at the end of the hallway.

“Sooooo,” Kenzi drawled, jabbing the elevator call button with her thumb. “What’s up with you and the lush?”

“Lush?” Lauren asked, avoiding the question. “Isn’t that a little hypocritical?”

Kenzi crossed her arms. “No! …Maybe. A little. Not the point.” She scowled when Lauren chuckled, following the doctor into the elevator as the doors slid open.

“I don’t know.” The doctor admitted quietly, keeping her gaze trained on the silver metal doors as they slid closed. She looked over at the shorter woman in surprise when she felt the hand on her arm giving her a reassuring squeeze.

“Are you nervous? I’m not nervous, are you nervous?” she rambled, letting go of the blonde’s arm as the elevator chimed and the doors slid open to a brightly lit hallway identical to the one they had just left.

“Maybe you should go back.” Lauren suggested seriously. “Given what Rona knows about me, I can’t imagine this is going to go smoothly.”

“Yeah, totally.” Kenzi said sarcastically. “I’m not letting you go in there alone and even if I did, I’m pretty sure Tamsin would kill me in a probably _really_ unpleasant way and I like to think Bo loves me too much to want to kill me, but I’m not willing to test that theory.”

“We’ll just offer to buy the first thing and get out of there. Ready?” Lauren asked as they stopped in front of the door.

“I’d be more ready if I could have brought Geraldine.” She admitted, sucking in a preparatory breath and letting it out loudly before turning the knob on the office door.

The doctor tried to hide her disappointment on entering the executive office when she immediately spotted Rona leaning against the wall behind an empty mahogany desk meaning any wards were most certainly in place already. She felt Kenzi elbow her gently and she looked over towards where the smaller woman was inclining her head slightly, noticing that there was a man she recognized who had been talking to the auctioneer that was standing on the other side of the room gazing at them passively.

“You’re early.” Rona started, smiling genially enough though the action was slightly unsettling given the sharp gold hue of her eyes. “I like that. Shows initiative.” She gestured to two highly decorative leather chairs across from the desk. “Have a seat.”

The two women obeyed and Rona pushed herself off the wall, taking a step forward and pulling out the chair behind the desk but didn’t sit down.

“You didn’t come empty handed I take it?” the redhead asked, eyeing Lauren who immediately looked at Kenzi in the hopes she’d brought something to indicate they had money.

“Come on.” The Russian said, crossing her arms. “Do you honestly think we’d show up in an unknown location with a shitload of money without even seeing what we could be buying first? This ain’t my first rodeo. We have money, just not _here_.”

Rona smiled widely. “You hang onto her.” She told Lauren. “She’s smarter than she looks. “Now then, shall we get started? I’ll get Mr. Miller and let him tell you himself about the _unusual_ items you’d been looking for.” She made a gesture with her hand and a black door identical to the one they had seen in the warehouse appeared off to the side. After a moment, the door swung open and a tall gaunt man stepped over the threshold, Rona waving her hand again and causing the door to disappear to where it had come from.

The thin man sat in the chair Rona had pulled out and scooted up to the desk, folding his bony fingers together. “I’m so glad Rona was able to find some serious clients.” He said brightly. “I’m curious, how did you come to find out about my… little auction house?”

“A client recommended me.” Lauren replied, repeating the story she’d given Rona the day before. “He bought a breeding pair of manticore some time ago.”

Mr. Miller smiled fondly. “Ah, yes! Tell me, how are his little pets doing? Has the male had his spikes come in yet?”

“Absolutely.” Lauren replied, thinking about the greenish barbs that had been launched into Tamsin’s side.

“Splendid! Now then, what kind of business are you in? Collector or…?”

“I do collect, but mostly I’m a dealer.”

Mr. Miller’s eyes lit up and he steepled his fingers together. “Oh that’s _fabulous_. I do love to sell to dealers. The idea of my collection reaching a wider audience is… very satisfying.” He said gleefully. “Now then, let’s get started. Rona?” he looked over at the redhead who nodded and motioned with both hands, a simple looking dagger with a white pearlescent hilt appearing on the desktop.

“Doesn’t look like much.” Kenzi noted, her voice as unimpressed as she felt.

Mr. Miller laughed heartily and nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, it does look rather unremarkable, doesn’t it?” he agreed, picking it up and tilting it from side to side so they could see it. “However, to assume so would be completely wrong. You see, _this_ is Carnwennan, the dagger of King Arthur himself with which he slayed the witch Orddu by slicing her clean in half. It will grant the user considerable skill where there is none. It is said,” he continued, placing the dagger back on the desktop. “That it has the ability to render the user undetectable as well but I’m afraid that feature is not guaranteed. It chooses when and to whom it renders that particular skill but there’s still a chance it could happen.”

“It looks a little better now.” Kenzi admitted reluctantly causing the lean man to smile broadly.

“Only seven hundred thousand, a steal!” He informed, leaning back in his chair and directed his gaze at Lauren. “I’m sure you could sell this to a client for twice as much quite easily, wouldn’t you say?”

The blonde nodded slightly. “What do you get out of selling it to me for seven hundred then?” she asked.

“You’re unconvinced.” He said instead of answering. “And as well you should be! Go on, pick it up, inspect it all you’d like, it’s totally authentic!”

Lauren hesitated for a moment until Kenzi cleared her throat to encourage her to do something and the doctor leaned over with her arm outstretched, wrapping her fingers around the hilt of the dagger, immediately feeling power rush through her. She glanced up at Mr. Miller who seemed to have paled and was staring at her strangely.

“Well, you think it over for a moment,” he said in a manner that belied his calm demeanor, standing up. “And I’ll be back in a minute.” He looked over at Rona and nodded, causing her to wave her hands so the black door appeared and he stepped through it, slamming the door behind him.

“What’s his problem?” Kenzi asked as the door disappeared.

Rona gave a small wave to the two men standing in the back of the room. “I don’t know,” she said coolly. “It must be something you’re wearing.”

Kenzi immediately looked down at herself, suddenly terrified that her wire had been discovered but the locket was closed and looked no different than when they had come in. She glanced over at Lauren questioningly, wondering if the doctor knew what was going on and then she spotted it. “Oh balls.” She whispered, drawing Lauren’s gaze down to where she was looking. When the blonde had leaned over, the necklace symbolizing not just her servitude but her servitude to the Ash must have fallen out of her shirt, as now it was plainly visible.

Lauren looked up, the panic plain on her face. She opened her mouth to say something when she felt the heavy backhand of the man who had come up behind her delivered to her, causing her to lurch forward violently, striking her head on the mahogany desk and causing her to go blind momentarily. She pulled herself up, dazed and trying to ignore the throbbing in her head, hearing Kenzi shouting for their backup to get the lead out.

Kenzi launched herself out of her chair; narrowly missing a blow intended for her and scrambled over to the dagger, grabbing it off the floor where Lauren had dropped it when she’d been hit. The man, who had been advancing on her, hesitated as she slashed out at the air in front of her, proving that Mr. Miller’s claim that the dagger provided talent with the weapon was no bluff.

Lauren threw an imprecise right hook as Rona advanced on her, catching the edge of her fist on the redhead’s jaw and causing her reel back, giving her time to pick up a paperweight from the desk and slam it as hard as she could on the back of the head of the goon trying to disarm Kenzi. He crumpled in a heap on the floor just as the door burst open, Bo, Tamsin and Dyson tumbling into the room as if they had been leaning on the door before it opened.

While Lauren was momentarily distracted, Rona threw her arm around the blonde’s neck and dragged her backwards to the far side of the room, producing a switchblade from her pocket with her other hand. “That’s far enough.” The witch commanded, smiling when everyone froze. “I should have known you were full of shit.” She informed Lauren who was struggling to breathe in the tight chokehold.

“You don’t want to do this.” Bo said, her voice calm but her demeanor tense.

Rona held the switchblade up towards Lauren’s reddening face and shook her head. “Not another step.” She informed them. “I want to make a deal.”

“Are you kidding?” Tamsin asked incredulously, her hands balled into fists. “Let Lauren go and you won’t have to spend the rest of your days breathing through a tube, how’s that for a deal?”

“I can get you Mr. Miller.” She said, loosening her grip around Lauren’s neck so she could gasp for air. “He knows now, you won’t have another shot at him except through me.” She pointed out. “I help you, you help me. You let me leave the city and you won’t ever have to see me again.”

“Fine.” Dyson agreed before anyone could speak. “But let her go.”

“Sure.” Rona agreed. “But a little insurance first.”

Without hesitation, the redhead quickly dragged the switchblade across the side of Lauren’s neck and though the cut wasn’t deep, it immediately drew blood, the dark red liquid beading along the line of the incision. Tamsin and Bo launched themselves forward but before anyone could stop her, Rona tilted her head down and latched onto the wound, dragging her tongue along the length of it. Lauren stumbled forward, lightheaded from lack of air and fell forward, being caught on both sides by the two fae women.

“There.” Rona said, sounding satisfied with herself. “If you don’t help me, she’ll die. Slowly and painfully so we better not drag this out.”

“Bet you think you’re tough shit, dontcha?” Tamsin asked, making sure Bo was supporting the doctor’s weight before stepping over to the redhead. Rona smiled, clearly pleased with herself but didn’t answer. The witch didn’t even have time to feel shock as the Valkyrie’s fist landed squarely on her face with a sick bone on meat sound causing her to tumble backwards, blacked out before she hit the floor with a loud thud. “I hate people who think they’re tough shit.” She informed the unconscious heap near her feet, going back over to Bo and Lauren to help the succubus aid the doctor down to their vehicles and giving Dyson a look on the way out that dared him to say anything. He clenched his jaw but kept quiet, stepping further into the room, signaling to Kenzi to help him carry Rona.


	9. Chapter 9

Tamsin frowned at Lauren’s still form stretched out on top of the grey comforter. Dyson had wanted to take her to the Light Fae lab, but the valkyrie had pointed out, with Bo and Kenzi’s vehement backing, that it was unlikely they could do anything for her given that all of the techs in the lab were so clueless when it came to human biology that they would most certainly do more harm than good when dealing with anything internal so they had brought her back to her own apartment, hoping that something in the half-lab half-living room would have something that could help. Tamsin had some herblore knowledge stored in the recesses of her mind from having spent numerous lives before modern medicine and so had spent ten minutes agonizing over the doctor’s living wall near the door while Bo fussed over her in her room. She ended up coming away frustrated and empty-handed, though. Without knowing the exact nature of the toxins inside the doctor, it was hard to know what would help and what would make things worse. While she was more or less confident in her ability to identify the medicinal plants Lauren had stashed around her apartment, she knew she didn’t have the kind of knowledge needed to take samples and identify poisons. Asking the venefica was out of the question as Dyson and Kenzi had taken Rona to the lab, worried that Tamsin had given the witch some kind of head trauma. Part of her was actively wishing she’d hit the redhead harder while the other part was hoping she was fine so they could get to the saving Lauren part of the stupid bargain the shifter had agreed to.

Bo had been hovering around the doctor once Tamsin returned to the bedroom after giving up on discovering anything of use, smoothing back Lauren’s hair and looking like she was on the verge of bursting into tears or throwing something and honestly, Tamsin could relate. Bo had excused herself a moment ago to call Trick and inform him as to what was going on. If anyone could help them with Lauren, it would be him. Her gaze was drawn toward the doctor’s face when she let out a pained groan in her sleep, but didn’t open her eyes. Lauren had passed out on the way to the apartment and while she wasn’t running a fever and was at the very least, hovering back and forth between waking and sleeping, they were still concerned given that none of them knew what kind of toxins needed to be counteracted and Rona wouldn’t tell them before they helped her even if the Valkyrie hadn’t cold cocked her. Tamsin knelt down next to the bed and tilted the doctor’s head to one side gently to take a look at the wound on her neck. She couldn’t help with the poisons, but wounds she could do. The cut was deeper than it had initially looked but it wouldn’t need any stitches and it probably wouldn’t even leave a scar. She knew it needed to be cleaned, but the blood had stopped, the wound was dry and she was very reluctant to leave the doctor’s side when there was no one else there.

“C’mon, doc.” She whispered more to herself than to Lauren. “You’re gonna be okay.” The valkyrie took the human’s hand in both of hers and sucked in a breath, trying to get air in her lungs past the tight knot of helplessness in her chest. Letting out the air slowly, she started murmuring supplications in a language she never spoke if she could help it. She wasn’t even the praying kind. It wasn’t really that she didn’t believe in gods, it was that she mostly didn’t care. They never did much for her except give her grief and yet there she was, using the language of her birth to plead with a healing goddess long forgotten by humans to do something where she could not.

“That’s pretty.” The doctor said softly, interrupting her mid prayer, her voice quiet and strained. “I’ve never heard Old Norse out loud. I expected it to sound more like Icelandic.”

Tamsin smiled and turned her gaze to Lauren’s face, finding the doctor looking at her. “You ever turn that science brain off?” she teased lightly.

Lauren returned the smile weakly and twisted her hand to interlace their fingers. “What were you saying?”

Tamsin shrugged, suddenly feeling embarrassed. “Nothing, just talking. How are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been poisoned.” She joked dryly, gently squeezing the hand in hers. “I’m not really in the condition to do anything about it.” She continued, her voice displaying her rising frustration. “My whole body feels too heavy to move… I think… whatever toxins are in me are mildly paralytic.”

“Bo is downstairs talking to Trick right now. Is there anything here that would help?”

Lauren closed her eyes for a minute, trying to recall if she had anything useful on the premises. If she was half as tired as she looked, it was a small miracle she was carrying on a conversation. “I wouldn’t know without some tests first.” She said finally, opening her eyes. She let out a breathy laugh but her face was pained and she looked as if she was struggling to keep her eyes open. “You know, it’s never occurred to me to keep anything more serious than aspirin for my own use… kind of reckless, now that I think about it.”

Tamsin frowned and leaned over to place a kiss on the doctor’s temple. “I won’t let anything happen to you, doc, don’t worry.” She let go of Lauren’s hand and stood up when the human gave a barely perceptible nod, closing her eyes as she slipped back into unconsciousness. The valkyrie shifted her weight back and forth uncomfortably, hating the powerlessness overwhelming her. She wanted to be able to do something immediate to help, wanted to hurt something to make things better, but they wouldn’t even know where to start until Rona was checked out and conscious.

“How is she?” Bo asked behind her as she stepped into the room, the distress she felt evident on her face and in her voice.

The valkyrie shrugged and stuffed her hands in her back pockets. “In and out.” She replied as passively as she could, taking several steps back as she watched the succubus cross the room and sit on the edge of the bed next to the doctor. “She came around for a second while you were on the phone… she said there’s nothing here to help her without getting real sciencey about it.”

Bo’s brow creased in further worry and she gently stroked the side of Lauren’s face before sighing and looking over at the Dark Fae. “Trick said he’d sold the abath horn he’d gotten from when Kenzi ate some infected soup once, but he had some of the powder left. He wasn’t sure if it would be enough to fully cure venefica poison, but if nothing else, it would help slow the effects until Rona can tell us how to cure it... I called Kenzi and Dyson too. They said they’d go get the powder from Trick once Rona is cleared, which should be any minute.”

“Did you tell them to hurry up? She’ll be fine, I didn’t even hit her that hard.”

“Kenzi said you fractured her nose and gave her a grade three concussion, whatever that means.” The brunette replied.

Tamsin shrugged more at the irritation in the succubus’ voice than at the information. If she hadn’t punched the redhead, they would probably be off hunting down Mr. Miller but there was no point in getting pissy about it now, she had already done it and couldn’t undo it. She pulled her gaze back down to Lauren to avoid rolling her eyes at the perturbed brunette. The doctor’s face had grown pallid and the delicate skin around her eyes was darkening to reds and purples as if it were bruised. She crossed her arms over her chest and gripped her upper arms hard, digging her fingernails into flesh through her jacket to keep herself from fidgeting nervously and taking purchase on the other side of the bed next to the doctor in equal measure.

She definitely wasn’t as unobservant as she liked to make people think. She was well aware that the succubus knew about the mutual attraction between herself and the human and probably had for a well before it had ever been acted on. Normally, Tamsin was all about making people uncomfortable if not downright mad, especially when she felt their relationship was too friendly. It kept people from getting or wanting to get closer than she was entirely happy with. It was her way of not just keeping herself safe, but others as well. It was different this time though, and she was aware of that too. She wasn’t really one for defined romantic relationships and usually, even the word ‘relationship’ being mentioned by a partner sent her in the opposite direction.

It wasn’t like she and Lauren had ever talked about having a relationship, but the valkyrie was mindful that the human didn’t seem the type to love em and leave em if she could help it and when she thought of the doctor, she found the prospect of something beyond something casual enticing rather than anxiety inducing. And if she were brutally honest with herself, she actually really liked and cared about Bo’s little circle of friends and wanted to stay in rotation with them. Even Dyson had moments where everything coming out of his mouth didn’t make her want to roll her eyes out of her head. For once in her life, and that was certainly saying something, she felt like she belonged somewhere. She didn’t intend on fouling that up, and pissing Bo off too much was almost certainly a ticket out of the Happy Sunshine Gang so she made a point of not being too overtly familiar with the human in Bo’s presence though she knew the succubus realized something more was going on recently, even if she didn’t know the exact details.

Tamsin felt wasn’t her place to say anything anyways. If she said anything to the succubus, it would definitely be taken the wrong way. If not for her usual inability to choose the right words when it came to serious topics, than for the almost constant underlying caustic timbre to her voice she didn’t know how to get rid of without being exceedingly drunk or scared (and mostly, if she was willing to admit she was scared out loud, she was probably exceedingly drunk as well). She figured the best course of action was to leave everything up to the doctor. It was true that Lauren and Bo had been more off than on in the last couple years of their revolving door relationship and Lauren was very receptive to even her subtle flirting, Tamsin had purposely let the doctor take lead with anything physical just in case and thus far, she hadn’t disappointed but she still didn’t want to make assumptions. Lauren was good at masking her emotions when she wanted to, and while the valkyrie was confident to the point of arrogance that the human had been physically attracted to her for quite some time, it was hard to know what she expected. So she figured the litmus test about the seriousness of the doctor’s feelings was whether or not she’d talk to Bo about it; but first they had to fix this mess to even give that idea a chance.

“You do care about her.” Bo said suddenly as if reading her thoughts and causing the valkyrie to pull her gaze away from the doctor’s face to the succubus who was staring at her intently.

“Yeah, well…” Tamsin replied shrugging and trailing off when she realized it hadn’t been a question.

“I know what you mean.” Bo replied, a ghost of a smile flickering on her face. She pressed her lips to Lauren’s forehead as she got up from the bed and stood near the taller blonde, studying her carefully.

Tamsin knew she was being sized up in a way that had nothing to do with physical fighting and it took everything within her to not to make an exasperated noise in the back of her throat and keep her expression as neutral as possible. She wanted to point out that she didn’t need the succubus’ permission to do anything that didn’t involve her, but she clenched her jaw instead and held the brunette’s gaze, practically daring her to question her motives but she nodded her head once as if she’d seen what she had been looking for and sighed.

“We’re going to fix this.” Bo said finally, sounding more sure than she looked. The valkyrie nodded though both of their attentions had drifted back to Lauren when she let out a troubled whimper. “I’m going to make sure Trick knows they’re coming.” She glanced over at the Dark Fae as she moved to leave the room again. “Stay with her, okay?”

“Yeah, of course.” Tamsin responded, cocking her head slightly to one side as she tried to puzzle out the other woman’s distressed expression. She couldn’t be sure if it was the result of the situation, the verbal acknowledgment that something was happening between the two blondes or some combination of both but she wasn’t going to question her about it.

“I’ll tell them to hurry.”

The valkyrie made a noise of acknowledgement, but wasn’t really paying attention to Bo, having already situated herself sideways on the edge of the bed so she could keep an eye on Lauren’s face. She could feel the succubus’ eyes boring a hole in her back but she ignored her, exhaling as much tension as she could a minute later when she felt Bo leave. 

“We’re gonna fix this.” Tamsin echoed softly, pushing stray hair away from the doctor’s forehead which was covered in a light sheen of sweat and burned under her fingertips.


	10. Chapter 10

“How long until we get there?” Bo asked for probably the nine-hundredth time since they’d gotten in the vehicle.

Tamsin shrugged in response, just like the other eight hundred and ninety nine times the succubus had asked. She’d never been there either, how was she supposed to know? The valkyrie squinted and leaned forward in her seat; trying to see past the short view her all but useless headlights were providing on the dark road. She’d been meaning to replace the dimming bulbs, but having rarely ever driven out of the city after dark, she’d always forgotten.

“We’re lucky this asshole’s digs is even in the same country.” The blonde admitted almost absentmindedly as she tried to reconcile the stupid intersecting lines on the outdated map she had pinned to the steering wheel with one hand and the dark, nearly rural road in front of them. “A strong enough venefica, with the right potion, can make a portal to basically anywhere.”

“Yeah, well,” Bo began flatly, interrupting herself to swear under her breath and grip the garment handle above the door in surprise as they jounced over a large and unexpected pothole. “If you hadn’t scrambled Rona’s brains so bad, it would have been safe for her to do that and _we_ could have taken a portal there.”

“Oops.” Tamsin replied remorselessly. She _was_ actually sorry they’d had to drive out to no man’s land in order to chase after this Mr. Miller character, but she wasn’t sorry enough to let an apologetic tone creep into her voice unchecked. Besides, if she kept Bo exasperated, the succubus would stop worrying about Lauren out loud so much which had only served to fray at the blonde’s composure. “Look, we’re here anyways.” She pointed out, pulling off to the shoulder of the road when she spotted an ornate but abandoned looking barn Rona had marked down on the map as a landmark.

Bo followed Tamsin’s lead and slipped out of the truck when the blonde cut off the engine and threw up her hands in frustration as she joined her in front of the vehicle. “Where’s ‘here’?” the brunette questioned, trying to suss out their surroundings in the moonless light which was useless. She wouldn’t even know where they were if it was in the middle of the day though she thought, not for the first time that night, that she should have been the one to get information out of the witch.

“Got me.” Tamsin replied, patting herself down quickly to make sure her weapons were still in place before starting forward. “As long as that little yellow-eyed bitch wasn’t playing us, there’s supposed to be an estate up the road.” She glanced over at Bo when the shorter woman fell into step beside her. “It’s guarded, and hot as we are, they’re probably not going to let two chicks in a beat up truck through the gate after what happened tonight… or at all, really.”

“Oh, but two chicks just strolling up on foot is totally better?” Bo retorted skeptically, half wanting an answer. She could barely read the expression on the valkyrie’s face with the only light being given off by the stars, but she was fairly certain it was annoyance. “How are we supposed to get in?” she asked instead before she could get a response to her first question.

“Aren’t you supposed to be a succubus?”

Bo let out a huff of air between her lips. The blonde was definitely annoyed. “So no plan, then?”

“Kinda didn’t have time for that, Bo.” Tamsin noted curtly, biting down on her own tongue to keep from sounding like she was chiding a petulant child. Which, Bo kind of was a lot of the time, but she knew the brunette was just worried. She tugged on the succubus’ arm when she started to turn down a long driveway and noticed the brunette was still walking forward and she wasn’t sure if the grunt Bo gave was one of agreement or of being suddenly jerked in a different direction.

They walked in silence until coming on a large wrought iron gate set into a light colored stone wall that enclosed an impressively opulent manor that seemed to have every light in every room on in addition to a well lit exterior.

“Think he’s compensating?” Bo whispered as if she could be heard by a passing guard dressed in black; though it was unlikely he’d even be able to see them from that distance, let alone hear them.

Tamsin snorted and in the brighter lights, Bo could clearly see her roll her eyes. “Let’s go.” She said, pulling the succubus closer to the gate but veering off before they came within sight distance of anyone inside and led the brunette along the wall.

Bo allowed herself to be tugged along the perimeter, not really knowing what the Valkyrie was looking for. There’d be no way they could scale the wall. Even if one of them gave the other a boost, they’d still have to jump to grip the top. She should have been the one to talk to Rona, maybe she would have thought about asking things like that and although she doubted that, she allowed herself to remain peeved about it. She almost ran into the blonde’s back when she stopped suddenly, only saving herself from crashing into the other woman because Tamsin had released her grip and it caused her to halt in curiosity. She watched as the Dark Fae began to scale a twisted tree situated near the wall with a frown on her face. How was Tamsin climbing a tree with those shoes on? How was _she_ supposed to climb a tree with these shoes on?

“Come on, Baby Fae.” Tamsin hissed in a stage whisper from a low branch, balancing herself carefully and offering a hand to help the succubus up.

Bo shook her head and reminded herself that Lauren needed them to keep from saying something back and scrambled up the rough trunk as best she could, gripping the valkyrie’s hand when she could reach. She was pretty certain she’d not climbed a tree since grade school and it wasn’t anywhere near as easy as she remembered it. They made it up to a branch overhanging the wall with minimal problems, meaning no one fell out of the tree and Bo followed Tamsin as she swung herself over the wall and dropped down the other side.

“Now what?” The succubus asked, half limping to where the blonde was peering towards the mansion from behind a cluster of hedges. She peered over the other woman’s shoulder when she didn’t answer, shifting her weight to rotate the ankle around that she had landed too hard on. There was a single guard halfway up the driveway, but he was huge, armed, and he looked tough. Judging from the distant beeping of walkie-talkies going off, there were likely more sentries stationed around the property and who knew what was inside. “Okay.” Bo breathed out after several minutes of silence as she tried to formulate a plan aloud. “Kiss me.”

Tamsin looked at her suspiciously and clicked her tongue. “Tch. Are you serious right now?” she whispered hotly under raised eyebrows.

Bo sighed and wondered if she would ever get used to Tamsin’s easily triggered irritation. “Hello?” she whispered back, gesticulating to her face. “Succubus, remember? We don’t know what’s in there apart from Rona’s ‘it’s probably guarded’ help so…” she dragged out the last word to illustrate her point.

“I’m gettin real sick of you coming up with excuses to kiss me.” The Valkyrie shot back, rolling her eyes, but she put a hand on Bo’s shoulder and moved closer to her.

“You’re full of shit.” The brunette noted before closing the distance between them. She held the back of the blonde’s neck to steady herself and tried not to register how soft the other woman’s lips were, concentrating instead on drawing the energy out of the Valkyrie. She pulled back and pressed her fingers to her temples to stop the world from spinning when she felt like she was on the verge of getting out of control and shook her head, wondering how Tamsin managed to look so dazed and so decidedly annoyed at the same time. Her whole body was buzzing with energy; she’d taken chi from Tamsin before but it always surprised her how unprepared she was for the experience. “What _is_ it about you?” Bo muttered in a hushed tone, half feeling like she was ready to beat up army of goons and half feeling like she was ready sleep with an army of goons.

“I just have that effect on women.” Tamsin replied, shaking her head of the haze she’d been left with. “We gonna do it, or what?”

The succubus blew air through her lips quietly, displeased that her brain had immediately gone straight to the gutter on hearing the question. “Try not to get shot for once.” She clamped a hand over her mouth and turned away to keep from snickering when the Valkyrie made a face like she was highly offended. The succubus did throw an apologetic glance towards the blonde though since she’d only been shot saving her life.

Bo raised herself slightly from her crouched position to look over the hedges without being noticed and spotted the guard at the front of the house, he had moved with his back towards them to light a cigarette. How cliché. Exchanging a knowing look with the valkyrie, they listened for a moment to where the beeps from the other walkie-talkies were coming from and when they sounded far away, they strode out of their hiding spot and up to the large man who seemed to get larger the closer they got.

“Hey, big boy.” Bo called out sweetly, causing the guard to turn around, his hand dropping his cigarette and reaching for his gun. The succubus grabbed his face and pulled him to her, sending waves of seductive energy through her fingers until a dopey smile blossomed on his face.

“You’re so beautiful.” He said dreamily, practically swaying back and forth.

“What kind of security do you have on the inside?” she purred, ignoring his statement.

The guard shook his head as he tried to pull together some semblance of willpower. “I can’t tell you that, but I can…” he trailed off and leaned down to try and capture Bo’s lips.

The brunette wrinkled her nose and quickly moved her head back to escape the attempted kiss. “Come on,” she countered in a singsong, pulsating more energy through her fingers. “You wouldn’t want me to get _hurt_ in there, would you?”

He screwed up his face as if that were the most odious thought in the world. “Just stay with me. I love you.”

Bo glared over her shoulder at Tamsin when the valkyrie stifled a laugh and turned her attention back to the guard who seemed to only be upright through his desire to keep the brunette holding onto his face. “I’m just going to look around and then I’m coming right back.” She promised, her lips close to his face. Tamsin wasn’t sure if it was medically advisable to roll her eyes as often as she felt like over the course of this interaction. She briefly thought of reminding herself to ask Lauren if there were medical dangers to too much eye rolling but the thought of the other blonde and why they were here sobered her.

“I’m not…” he started, his brains having gone to mush. “I’m not sure; we’re on separate rotation and they use a different frequency. Maybe three…maybe ten. Definitely one outside Mr. Miller’s office on the third floor. Are we going to—are we going to kiss now?”

Bo nodded gamely and moved her face closer, sucking a steady stream of chi out of him until his eyes rolled back and he crumpled to the ground. The succubus moved her arms to chivalrously indicate that the blonde go ahead of her, which the valkyrie did, stepping on the guards back with one foot instead of over him.

“ _Big boy_.” Tamsin mocked, shaking her head as she unzipped the front of her jacket to palm a dagger that was so big, it had to have been digging into her ribs the whole time.

“Shut-up.” Bo shot back, resisting the urge to shove the valkyrie into the front hall when she cautiously opened the front door and was peering inside. “It worked, didn’t it?”

Tamsin nodded and reached behind her to grip the brunette’s jacket and yank her inside when she heard a walkie beep around the side of the house, reminding her that there were more guards outside and they didn’t have time for Bo to sway a bunch of those losers. She gave her a look she hoped was withering enough to get the succubus to keep her voice down and moved silently through the front hallway when Bo’s mouth shut with an audible click. Tamsin stopped moving when she heard a door open further down the hall, tensing as a guard came into view. The man was smaller than the one outside, but he had a much bigger gun, which he raised immediately on seeing them. Well, which he started to raise, but Tamsin had skillfully thrown her knife hard in his direction, the blade planting itself deep in his chest and causing him to flop over anticlimactically.

“Was that necessary?” Bo hissed, following closely behind the blonde as she went to retrieve her weapon.

“You’re welcome.” Tamsin replied in a direct tone, pulling her knife out of the guard and wiping the blood off on his shirt. She motioned to a servant’s elevator at the end of the hall that was visible beyond the green marble pillars now that they were at the right angle to see it. “It’s not like he was planning on tickling us with that gun.” She continued, pressing the elevator call button and immediately flattening herself against the adjacent wall.

Bo nodded reluctantly and mirrored the blonde’s actions. She squinted at the Dark Fae who looked poised to spring once the elevator stopped. Aside from the Valkyrie’s stunning good looks, Bo was having a hard time trying to figure out what Lauren saw in her. Sure, she would grudgingly admit that she considered Tamsin a friend and she knew that for all her bravado, the blonde was protective and loyal but she didn’t understand how Lauren had somehow moved out of her orbit and into Tamsin’s. She wanted to think that the valkyrie wasn’t even the doctor’s type, but she suddenly realized with a frown that she had no idea what Lauren’s type was.

Bo was startled out of her musings when the elevator came to a loud mechanical halt. They both held their breath for a minute, waiting for something to happen but when nothing did, Bo pushed herself away from the wall and pulled the door to one side to open it, revealing the compartment to be empty. She stepped in with Tamsin closing the door behind her as she got in and pressed the button for the third floor. Nothing happened for a long moment but then the mechanisms running the lift groaned and they began their snails pace crawl upwards.

“The stairs would’ve been quicker.” Bo commented.

Tamsin shrugged and pulled a curved blade out of her boot and handed it to the succubus. “Yeah, but we would have also had to hunt around for the stairs on the second floor.” The blonde pointed out. “And I’m trying not to get shot for once.”

Bo shook her head amusedly and moved to one side of the compartment while Tamsin moved to the other, reproducing their positions from just before they’d gotten into the elevator. “So what are we going to do once we get up there?”

The Dark Fae shrugged. “Well, your boyfriend said there was at least one asshole guarding the door to the office.” Her gaze drifted to the ceiling as if she were trying to remember something. “Place like this? There’s probably only one room up there. It’d be safe to think there’s more than one guy up there, even if they weren’t expecting us, which clearly they weren’t. Put my energy to good use and you take care of anyone in the hall, I’ll go for the office door. That Miller dude has got to be in there.”

Bo nodded. “We need him uninjured.” She reminded as the elevator came to a halt.

“If you think I’m going to deprive the Morrigan of being able to impose sentencing herself, then you’re not as smart as I thought.”

Bo wrinkled her nose and shrugged while they waited in case someone was going to open the door. “We can’t control what happens in a scuffle though.” She said thoughtfully. “Heat of battle and stuff.”

They exchanged a knowing smile. “If there’s more than one, I’m gonna do my thing, but only enough to give you a chance.” Tamsin said, moving to pull the door open so Bo could get out first. “Ready?”

The succubus didn’t have time to give an answer as the valkyrie had already begun to yank the door to one side. The brunette stepped into the hallway, almost immediately having the barrels of four guns aimed at her from four different guards who were advancing on her rom the other end of the hall. She tensed, suddenly remembering that saying about never bringing a knife to a gunfight and was about to say something, anything to keep them from shooting right away when she noticed them lower their weapons slightly and train their gaze on something behind her.

“Those aren’t even loaded.” Tamsin’s voice said from behind her left shoulder. Her voice was even, cold and slightly mocking. Bo knew if she were to turn around the Valkyrie’s features would be sunken and black. “They’re useless.” The valkyrie must have indicated a spot because all the guards tossed their weapons in the same spot, likely aiming towards the feet of where Tamsin was standing.

Bo thought briefly of picking up one of the guns, but discarded it almost as quickly as it popped into her head. She was better skilled without one and the little collection of sentries were already shaking off the doubt the blonde had pressed onto them, starting to regard her with predatory looks rather than uncertainty. She felt a squeeze on one shoulder and then a blur of motion as the other woman bolted from her position and barreled down the hall toward the tall ornate wooden door on the other side.

Tamsin barely slowed her sprint when she reached the door, ignoring the grunts of the fighting going on behind her and pulling open the door, slamming it behind her. Like she expected, the office was ostentatiously enormous but she had not been expecting it to look like some kind of stock room in a fae antiquities museum. There were crates and artifacts everywhere, causing the spacious room to seem a lot smaller. It wasn’t ideal at all if there was a confrontation, but the arrangement did serve to narrow her gaze to the other side of the room where a tall gaunt man in black stood. She actually would have missed him, if he hadn’t been blinking. His body melted into the shadows gathered behind him and his face resembled a porcelain mask that was hanging on the wall next to his head. He looked startled to see her, which she could understand.

“Miller, I guess?” Tamsin started, stalking slowly towards the man.

He blinked in surprise but quickly recovered and spread his arms wide as if he had invited her in. “You have me at a disadvantage. You know my name, but I’m afraid I don’t know yours.”

The blonde shrugged. “You are in such deep shit.” She continued, smirking. “You know you got the Morrigan _and_ the Ash playing real nice together.” Tamsin hesitated when a wide smile grew on his face.

“That is magnificent.” He said approvingly. “No wonder I’ve been feeling so energetic! I do hope they continue to work together to undo everything I’ve done since I’ve been here.”

And then Tamsin understood. “You’re a bezlad.” She said, voicing her hunch. She watched him nod in a self-important manner and gripped the handle of her dagger tighter. Bezlad were fae that fed on disorder. If they set into motion an event that could cause chaos, they could feed on the resulting energy. The black market was actually a genius idea and Tamsin had to fix her face to not show that she was impressed with that kind of planning. All he’d done was hire some people to sell his stuff to humans, humans who knew nothing about fae and those humans would in turn would either sell them to other humans, increasing the chance for a deal to go wrong, or would create the pandemonium themselves through ignorance of what they’d bought. He probably hadn’t done a moment of actual work to feed since he’d gotten the auction set up.

“They’re gonna kill you.” She continued, starting her slow stalking pace again, not wanting to spook him into flight. He didn’t look like much, but he’d been feeding and feeding extremely well for at least the last six months, it was a possibility his looks belied some kind of hidden power. She cocked her head to one side. “Not right away, of course. I dunno what you are, but for your sake, you better be Light. Evony _really_ hates being cheated.”

Miller shrugged, his face unconcerned. “Oh, I figured I would be caught eventually. Everything I’ve done, and I’ve done _a lot_ , is going to have to be undone.” The rictus on his face took on a dreamy delirious quality. “Do you think they’ll work together? I’m sure by now there’s merchandise in all corners of that city.” He hummed thoughtfully; eyes faraway and gleeful at the long-term havoc this had the potential to explode into. “Either way, this is the best feeding plan I’ve had in centuries.” Tamsin was closer to him now and she kept her breath slow so as not to interrupt his monologue. “I’ve enough bargaining chips flittering about that I have no fear for my life.”

Tamsin frowned and stopped again. He was totally right. Even Evony would be concerned with getting only god knows what off the streets to keep it from circulating among humans. That pompous little shit was going to get away with it.

“I can only assume,” the tall man added, using his spidery fingers to smooth his hair. “That since you’re here, Rona’s helped you…” He shrugged and sighed dramatically. “I’m not sure what I expected, really. You can’t trust humans, even ones with a little power. Speaking of humans, how did your little cadre manage? They didn’t look like much.” He clapped his hands together once in elation. “Did she _kill_ one of them?”

The valkyrie’s mind flashed immediately to the image of Lauren’s supine form laid out on her bed. She had been drenched in sweat when they left, skin burning with fever and looking positively cadaverous. If not for the sweat beading onto her forehead as fast as Kenzi could wipe it away and the anguished groans and whimpers coming out of her, Lauren looked mostly dead. Tamsin felt the rage bubble up inside her and her knuckles turned white with how hard she was gripping the hilt of her dagger. Like hell she was going to let him feed off this situation. She launched herself over the distance between her and the bezlad, brandishing her weapon with intent to kill.

It had been a foolish move, of course, he’d been trying to get a rise out of her and she’d let him. She must have grossly underestimated how well he’d fed because he moved so fast she hadn’t even registered it. The only indication that he had moved at all was that his fist was still closed around the short spear he’d pulled from its place leaning against the wall behind him. The other end buried deep in her side and sending excruciating pain throughout her body. She dropped her dagger in surprise and looked down where blood was already pooling around the entry point. She vaguely heard a noise behind her, like something heavy falling against the door.

“Well,” Mr. Miller started, his tone diplomatic. “This is rather regrettable, but,”

“Bet you think you’re tough shit, dontcha?” Tamsin asked rhetorically, her tone dangerous. She snatched her remaining weapon, a knife, from its unassuming holder at her hip and with the practiced ease of someone who’d spent lifetimes on battlefields, she slashed his neck open.

His eyes widened in surprise as blood spurted out of the deep cleft in his throat, futilely bringing up his free hand to try and stanch the dark red river gushing from the wound and only succeeding in covering his hand with blood. His mouth opened and closed a few times, an odd strangled noise escaping him, which only seemed to push more of his life out and he released his hold on the spear, causing Tamsin to stumble backwards. With a cry that was just as full of pain as anger, the valkyrie yanked the spear out of her abdomen and tossed it to the side, falling to her knees at the same time Mr. Miller backed into the wall and slid down its surface, slumping over when he hit the ground, his eyes open but unblinking. 

She heard Bo shout her name urgently but only managed to hiss through her teeth in response. The pain seemed to be spreading out from the wound, traveling the length of her body and leaving searing pain in its wake. Fabulous. Of course she would get impaled by an enchanted weapon. She wasn’t sure if she couldn’t see because her eyes were closed or if it was because the pain was so intense that her other senses had shut down. Agony was too small a word to use for the pain she was in. Even if she could think clearly, she wouldn’t know a word in any of the numerous languages she spoke that would sum up the type of pain she felt. If it were possible to unclench her teeth, she was sure she’d throw up. The only thing she thought with any clarity that wasn’t focused on the molten torture radiating from the hole in her side, was that she was grateful that when she inevitably toppled backwards, Bo was there to catch her instead of the marble floor that was growing slick with blood.


	11. Chapter 11

Kenzi wrung the ice water out of the washrag she’d dipped into the bowl on Lauren’s nightstand and anxiously wiped away the sweat from the doctor’s face. Dyson had left abruptly after a short phone call from Bo without explaining anything to her, so whatever had happened; she didn’t imagine it being a good thing. She pressed a firm hand on Lauren’s shoulders as the blonde half lifted from the bed, mumbling something about polymerase chain reactions. Kenzi wasn’t really sure if she should be more worried, or less worried. When she and Dyson had gotten back from the Dal to pick up the abath horn powder and lock Rona up in the basement, she’d been pretty optimistic. After all, that powder had helped her and she’d been on death’s doorstep. But her optimism quickly fell away when she’d seen the state Lauren was in. She wasn’t just on the doorstep; she was having tea in the living room.

Trick hadn’t been exactly sure if the horn’s powder was enough to cure Lauren, but it seemed to have some effect. The blonde had gone from mostly unconscious and paralytic to spasmodic, sudden movements and being perpetually in the space between awake and asleep. Kenzi wanted to believe that was an improvement because the only other thought was too scary to entertain even for a moment. Lauren’s eyes fluttered open and she stopped struggling against the other human’s hand, her head hitting the pillow hard. Her gaze was glassy and full of confusion; Kenzi was positive that even though the doctor was looking at her, she wasn’t seeing her.

“They’re trying to make my macromolecules water soluble.” Lauren stated, immediately frowning like the words coming out of her mouth were just as puzzling to her as they were to Kenzi. Her voice sounded small, almost childlike in its confusion. She closed her eyes and jerked her head to one side though the dark haired human wasn’t sure if it was a voluntary motion or not. “Kenzi,” she whimpered pitifully. “I don’t feel good.”

The Russian nodded though Lauren’s eyes were still closed and dabbed the damp washrag over the blonde’s forehead again before the sweat could get in her eyes. “I know, Hotpants.” She said softly, trying to keep her worry out of her voice. “Bo and Tamsin are working on making sure you feel better, okay?”

Lauren’s head lolled back and forth and her brow furrowed. Kenzi frowned, not certain on whether or not the blonde had heard her and dipped the washrag back into the bowl of ice water. It was extremely unnerving to see the normally composed doctor half undone by fever and queasiness. She dropped the cloth in the bowl and used both hands to grip Lauren’s shoulders as she let out a long disquieting whine and arched off the bed. Kenzi was in the midst of wishing someone would come back and make everything better when she heard the front door slam as if in response to her thoughts. When Lauren’s body relaxed and her features untwisted and smoothed into calmness, Kenzi swiftly made her way to the living room, feeling hopeful.

The feeling half left her about halfway down the stairs when she registered a hoarse voice groaning, sounding full of pain. The feeling fled altogether when she saw Dyson standing near the couch, his mouth set in a grim line. Kenzi’s heart stopped when she eyed Bo who was standing on the other side of the couch, her hands and shirt bloody. She practically flew the distance between them; her mouth already fixed to let out a string of anxious questions when she was finally at an angle to see Tamsin.

The valkyrie was laying on her side in a manner that suggested she had been placed that way. Her teal leather jacket was bunched up and placed under her head, her face fixed into a look that suggested anguished suffering, the muscles in her jaw showing how hard her teeth were clamped together and Kenzi could see why. Her shirt looked like it had been cut with scissors up the side and instead of exposing skin; there were thick gauze pads that were red with the blood seeping through them.

“Govno.” She swore loudly, pushing the thought in the back of her mind away that Tamsin was going to ruin the upholstery on the couch. “What the hell happened?”

Bo’s gaze jumped from the valkyrie to her best friend, clearly reluctant to tear her gaze away from the Dark Fae. “We ran into some problems.” She started.

“Miller is dead.” Dyson provided when Bo trailed off. “Tamsin killed him but not before he caught her in the side with a dragon spear.” He continued when Kenzi moved her hands to indicate she needed him to explain. “Dwarven made spears. The blade is made of serrated dragon teeth. If that wasn’t bad enough, they’re almost always enchanted to cause long term pain in the event the target isn’t killed.

Kenzi blew air through her lips loudly. “Is she going to be okay?” even though she didn’t need to, she motioned to the valkyrie whose face was red with the effort put behind clenching her teeth and scrunching her face against the pain.

“At the lab they said her intestines weren’t punctured and she’s not going to bleed out, that she was lucky.” Bo said, not adding that she didn’t think Tamsin looked lucky at all. “But she’s still torn up pretty bad and the pain’ll last anywhere from twelve hours to a week, they weren’t sure. They said she could still die from the shock, or even…” Bo trailed off, but Kenzi was able to fill in the blanks. The pain was great enough that if the valkyrie could get a hold of her basic motor functions not related to the response to pain, she might try to end the pain the only way she knew how. “Someone needs to keep an eye on her, to make sure she doesn’t... to make sure she’s okay.”

“We’ve got Trick trying to get a full list of everything sold at the auction out of Rona now to give to the Ash and the Morrigan, but we’ve already got a list of things we need to help Lauren. We’ve got to get them and some of the stuff isn’t easy to get; it’s going to take some time…”

“How is Lauren?” Bo asked before Kenzi could say anything.

“She’s moving around more, but…” she forced what she hoped was a calming smile and changed the subject before anyone lost their composure. “Guess Nurse Kenzi got another patient?”

Bo nodded. She looked incredibly tired. “We’ll hurry.” She promised, moving with Dyson to haul the blonde Fae upstairs and into the spare room. Tamsin allowed herself to be unfolded and half carried to their destination. She seemed to be only responsive to the pain she was in and her breath came out in loud bursts through her nose. Kenzi followed them with trepidation, hoping that when Dyson said it was going to take ‘some time’ he was overestimating.

 

ooo

 

Dyson grunted with the efforts of keeping the jaws of the large brown beast open while the wiry coated creature was doing its damnedest to snap its mouth around Bo’s head, the succubus having been pinned underneath its weight. “Any time, Bo.” The shifter urged tightly, digging his feet into the ground.

“You think this is fun for me?” the brunette shot back rhetorically, one hand pushing against the coarse hairs of the monster’s neck and the other tightly gripping a plastic ampoule and shoved inside the beast’s mouth. She grimaced as wet glops of drool cascaded from the creature’s mouth, landing in her intended target of the vial but also getting flung all over her face and neck with every angry growl and flapping of its tongue. “Got it!” she shouted triumphantly, pulling her hand away from the curved teeth too close to her skin.

Dyson pulled the beast off of her with great effort and threw it to the ground behind him with a snarl that could have been for show or could have been from the effort. The stocky animal floundered on its side for a few seconds before righting itself and darting deeper into the woods with surprising speed, melding into the deep shadows in seconds. Neither of them moved as they listened to it crash noisily through the woods and Dyson finally turned around to offer her a hand up as the bumbling path it took quieted down. He shook the wetness off his hand once Bo stood up and wiped the secondhand drool on the side of his jeans. “Did you get enough?” he asked, watching the brunette hold the clear vial up to her face to see inside.

She smiled in the low light and wiped a hand across her forehead to clear it of spittle, leaving a dirt streak for her troubles. “One tube of spit from a…” she screwed up her face in thought, trying to wrap her mouth around the bizarre name printed on the paper in Dyson’s pocket. “ROUS.” She said finally, looking over at the wolf and waiting for him to at least smile. She sighed at her wasted joke when he just looked at her confusedly. “Rodent Of Unusual Size.” She clarified. “You know, from the Princess Bride?”

He shrugged apologetically and they started to pick their way out of the woods and to the nature trail that would take them back to Dyson’s car.

“Let me see that list.” Bo asked, shoving the plastic vial into her pocket next to the small rock that looked like a bloodstone but was constantly cool to the touch they’d procured earlier. She squinted at the scrawled letters on the paper handed to her, trying to decipher them without being able to properly see them and stopping in her tracks as if that would help her see better.

“Root from a lotus tree.” Dyson offered, having turned around to look at the paper. “And fruit from an umdhlebi.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad.” Bo said, sounding relieved as they continued their journey. “It’s not bad, is it?”

“Well the umdhlebi fruit shouldn’t be too hard. I know a guy who lives midtown who collects rare plants and he’s got one. He owes me a favor too. The lotophagi who keep the lotus trees are pretty bad-tempered, though.” He paused and pushed a thick branch out of the way, holding it back to let Bo pass him. “They’re pretty lazy during the day and more reasonable, so it’d probably be best to go to them once the sun rises.”

The succubus nodded. It was nearly six thirty in the morning as it was, once they got back to the car, got a hold of Dyson’s friend and made it to midtown to get the fruit, the sun would have risen by the time they set out to find the lotophagi. Bo’s mind went to Lauren. After they’d put Tamsin in the crisp sheeted, unused daybed, she’d slipped into the doctor’s room while Dyson gave Kenzi a rundown of the short and mostly futile list of things to do to make the valkyrie more comfortable.

Lauren wasn’t as pallid as she’d been when they left her, but Bo didn’t think that was necessarily a good thing since her skin was flushed and burning with fever. Her shirt was dark with sweat and clung in wrinkled patches to her skin and she had opened her bruised eyes to look at her, but her expression barely flickered with any kind of recognition. Bo had taken up the washrag in a bowl on the nightstand and wiped the perspiration from Lauren’s face and neck carefully, absently agreeing with the confused tumble of words that didn’t go together when they sounded like questions.

“They’re going to make it.” Bo said quietly. She’d meant it to come out as a firm declaration, but it sounded like a scared question.

Dyson didn’t respond, but she could hear him let out a loud breath behind her. She stuffed one hand into her pocket to reassure herself that the two items they’d already procured were still there. Slimy plastic tube, cold rock. Check and check, she had to stay positive, stay focused, keep her mind off the two blonde’s dire conditions. She tried to think of something pleasant. Bo ducked under a branch and frowned at the unbidden thought that crept into her head. Without her permission, her brain started planning a date with Lauren to celebrate the doctor’s recovery when she got better.

But no, she couldn’t do that anymore. She tried not to feel bitter about it but the hard acrid lump in her throat just seemed to solidify instead of disappear. She was being callow; she knew this. She’d been perfectly content to leave things alone between her and the doctor, feeling like Lauren would always be there when she was ready, but when Lauren started to move on, she panicked. Of course she wanted Lauren to be happy, but she would prefer she be happy with her.

“What’s Lauren’s type?” Bo asked, giving voice to her earlier rumination.

“I’m not sure.” Dyson admitted, swiftly gripping the succubus’ arm to keep her from falling when she tripped over a half-buried root. “We never talked about it.” Bo was about to ask him why his voice sounded remorseful, but he spoke again before she had the chance. “I was…I am really hard on her.”

Bo threw a glance behind her to catch the shifter’s eyes, but he wasn’t looking at her. She had always figured that Dyson’s attitude towards the doctor had been influenced because of her; they had been rivals for her affections, after all, but his tone implied that he was including the time before she’d ever been in the picture. “They really have feelings for each other.” She stated without elaboration as they climbed up a slope and onto the hiking trail. Her whole body ached and her feet were killing her. She was going to soak in a hot tub for a week after this.

Dyson sighed. “I tried to talk to them. They both know better.”

Bo huffed at the tense disapproval coming from him and found herself defending the two blonde’s before she could stop herself. “You can’t help who you have feelings for, Dyson.” She stuck a hand in her pocket again; to make sure the two objects were still there. Slimy and cold. “And it’s _Lauren_.” She added as if that explained everything and to her, it did.

“Tamsin’s Dark and Lauren is owned by the Light, Bo. It’s complicated.” He replied as if she weren’t aware.

“Lauren isn’t _owned_ by anyone.” Bo responded immediately. Her voice was insistent, but they both knew that wasn’t the case. “Neither of them is stupid. If _I_ know what they’re getting into and they’ve been part of this world longer than me, longer than I’ve been alive in one case, then they have to know too.”

“Why are you defending this?” Dyson’s question was serious, but he sounded amused. “I thought you’d be against it on principal.”

“I am!” she blurted automatically before frowning. “I mean…I don’t know. I _love_ Lauren,” she didn’t notice Dyson clench his jaw slightly and so kept going. “And Tamsin’s…she’s my friend and I just want…” she sighed exasperatedly. “I don’t know what I want. That’s the problem.” She shrugged and left the thought that people shouldn’t have to wait around on her to figure herself out unsaid.

Bo recognized, with no small amount of chagrin, that she would defend the two blondes, whatever it was they decided. She didn’t think anything had been officially stated, but she wasn’t a succubus for nothing, she’d been noting their doe-eyed expressions and intensifying auras for a while. The brunette arrived at bewildered comprehension when she observed the valkyrie watching Lauren with her arms crossed tightly over her chest. She had still been burning a bright blue, though given the situation, it was understandably toned down from what Bo had seen before but there were also threads of a shade of blue the succubus didn’t have the adequate vocabulary for but would call teal if asked. Those little tendrils could be trouble; they indicated affection that was deep into amorous territory rather than sexual, the more there were, the surer of the feeling a person was and Tamsin’s aura had looked marbled. She put a hand in her pocket. Slimy, cold. Check and check.

 

ooo 

 

Kenzi cautiously slipped into the guest room, which was dimmer than Lauren’s room as the blue-eyed human felt like lower levels of light would help with the pain somehow. Tamsin had stopped the almost constant low wailing and replaced it with short but anguished vocalizations along with the intermittent sucking in of a long breath through her teeth loudly. It could have been that the Dark Fae was getting used to the level of pain, or it could have been the two-thirds bottle of absinthe she’d poured down Tamsin’s throat over the last several hours.

Dyson had said it might help. Something about the herbs used, natural painkillers, and valkyries’ relationship with alcohol; she hadn’t really been paying attention because she hadn’t thought Lauren would have any and Tamsin’s pained keening was distracting. She picked up the mostly empty bottle from the unused office desk situated against one wall and approached the valkyrie who was curled into herself, her eyes shut and face creased in agony. She yanked the cork out of the bottle with a quiet popping noise and waved it back and forth under the blonde’s nose.

“Gotta check your bandages again, Tam.” Kenzi informed her gently.

A noise slipped from between Tamsin’s lips, but she’d long since howled her throat raw and it came out as a cracked, dry and desperate sound. Kenzi nodded her understanding though the blonde’s eyes had been closed since she’d gotten there, though it was comforting that this time, Tamsin tilted her own head slightly off the throw pillow it was resting on. The Russian carefully poured the undiluted green liquid into Tamsin’s mouth, stopping occasionally to allow the blonde to swallow. Kenzi put the bottle back on the desk when the valkyrie dropped her head back to the pillow with a whimper and returned to the daybed to push aside the cut split in her shirt, which was caked with dried blood to look at the aforementioned bandages.

She peeled at the medical tape she’d found in the medicine cabinet in the upstairs bathroom and lifted the terrycloth towel she’d found in that same bathroom off of its position over the thick gauze the valkyrie had shown up with. The back of the towel was covered in blood, but it hadn’t soaked through, which was a good thing and it didn’t seem like the wound was still bleeding as the bandages strapped to her side weren’t wet. Kenzi was tempted to undo the bandages altogether to get a look at how bad the actual wound was, but she had vaguely recalled Lauren chiding her for that same impulse a few years ago when she’d been cut on her arm. Pulling back the bandages unnecessarily could aggravate the wound and cause it to start bleeding all over again. Satisfied that at least the wound wasn’t bleeding anymore, she replaced the towel and smoothed down the tape.

“How are you feeling?” Kenzi asked, squatting slightly to be more level with the valkyrie’s face. She wasn’t expecting a complex answer, or even a positive one but talking to Tamsin and asking her questions helped to engage her brain in something other than pain which could cause her to slip into shock. At first, Tamsin had ignored her altogether, but since she’d been pouring alcohol into her, the valkyrie managed nods of acknowledgement and even a few words.

Kenzi hummed when the Dark Fae shook her head slightly against the pillow. “It’s going to be okay.” The human assured though she wasn’t sure if it would be. “We’re gonna get Lauren better and she’ll get you better, okay?” she put a gentle hand on Tamsin’s shoulder and ran it up and down her upper arm a few times, an action she’d probably never attempt under any other circumstances but she felt like the valkyrie needed reassuring.

The lines in Tamsin’s face deepened impossibly further as her grimace deepened, another hoarse sob stuttering out of her. Kenzi sighed and gave the blonde’s shoulder a squeeze. “I’ll be right back,” she promised, waiting to see the small movement from Tamsin’s head as an indicator that she’d heard her before she stood up. “I’m just gonna go check on Hotpants and I’ll be right back.”

Kenzi eyed the blonde for a moment to make sure she’d be okay in the interim time. Tamsin’s hand unclenched and shot forward just as Kenzi tore her gaze away, startling her. The grip the valkyrie had just above her wrist was tight and painful but it was Tamsin’s face that made her suck in a sharp breath. Her eyes were opened, watery and rimmed in red, pleading under furrowed brows; her mouth parted and lower lip trembling. It looked like it was taking everything within her to keep her eyes open and the expression intensified when she spoke.

“Make it…” she whined pitifully, sounding like she was in the midst of laryngitis. “Make it stop. _Please_.”

Kenzi knew exactly what the valkyrie meant the moment the ‘please’ came out. Even if she hadn’t known, the desperate, unabashed begging tone made it pretty clear what Tamsin was asking of her. The human shook her head violently and Tamsin closed her eyes and dropped her head back to the pillow in despair and defeat but she didn’t release her grip.

“No way,” Kenzi said, confirming her initial reaction and unable to keep the octave of panic out of her voice. She moved down as far as she could to be level with the valkyrie’s face without the blonde having to let go of her. “No way, Tamsin. You can’t…I won’t…” she searched for the right words.

The other woman squeezed the fingers around her arm though Kenzi wasn’t sure if it was a gesture of understanding or if she was asking her again.

“Lauren’d have a fit if you’re not around to yell at about bleeding all over her apartment.” The human continued. “She’s not much in a fight, but she’s pretty scary sometimes. You don’t wanna do that to me, right?” the Valkyrie blew air forcefully out of her nose as her forehead creased. “And if Lauren’s mad, Bo’s mad and you can’t leave me here with that, okay?” another squeeze and the tight grip on her arm loosened a little. She squeezed the valkyrie’s shoulder with her free hand. “They’ll be back soon.” She promised even though the last text message she’d gotten from Bo said they’d be in the woods and were going out of range more than two hours ago. “Hang in there, Tamsin. Please.”

Another squeeze and the blonde pulled her hand away with a groan, her hand already balled into a fist so tight her knuckles were white by the time it returned to its place resting against her chin. 

Kenzi backed up several steps before turning around to make the short trip across the hall to where Lauren was deliriously mumbling about blood-brain barriers and psychotropic drugs. The dark-haired human gritted her teeth and added ‘nurse’ to her List-Of-Jobs-That-Will-Stress-Me-Into-An-Early-Grave.


	12. Chapter 12

Tamsin thought she knew pain. She was centuries on centuries older than the span of modern history and a valkyrie to boot. Pain was as natural to her as breathing. Over her lifetimes, she’d been poisoned, nearly gutted; half drowned (as a result of being tossed off a cliff), stabbed, impaled, shot, defenestrated and likely had broken every bone in her body at least half a dozen times but none of those compared to the pain she was feeling from the dragon spear enchantment. Her veins were tiny and useless trying to push blood made of molten lava through them, searing every nerve ending on its cycle through her body.

She prided herself on being able to take absurd amounts of pain. Valkyries were proud, haughty even, and Tamsin was no exception but she didn’t even have the presence of mind to be shamed at the embarrassing state she’d been deteriorated to by the enchantment. The pain seemed to grow in intensity with every minute. She had no idea how Bo had made it out of the mansion while half carrying her. She vaguely recalled being gently propped up against walls and then hearing the noises of fighting, but the pain erased parts of her memory. All she really remembered was being set down occasionally, her feet dragging on gravel and her head pressed against the smooth glass of the passenger’s side of her truck. Her world had narrowed down to pain and pain alone.

She didn’t remember being stitched up at the lab, or Bo being pulled away from her gurney by Dyson because she was getting in the way, or the drive to Lauren’s; she didn’t even register the sounds of her own wailing as the anguish had left her with a high pitched ringing echoing around in her throbbing head and she couldn’t even really process that either. Seconds felt like agonizing years; conceptualizing time was pointless. She was in hell, she knew it. She was being punished for everything she’d ever done wrong and she had done _a lot_ of things wrong. But still, just when she reached a new height of torment, it would get worse and yet she couldn’t pass out from the pain, couldn’t mentally leave her body and distance herself from it. Even hell couldn’t be this cruel.

A millennia into the infernal wretchedness of her predicament, her upper body had been clumsily pulled up and braced against another body, the smell of anise, alcohol and fennel invading her nostrils. She had tasted the fumes of the absinthe in the back of her throat before the high-proof liquid even hit her tongue but once it had, she had gulped greedily, the green spirit spilling down her chin as the person pouring it into her mouth tried to get into the awkward groove of feeding someone else liquids.

The absinthe didn’t diminish the pain, not really, but it made it very slightly more tolerable. She was able to hear things like Kenzi asking her questions and Lauren’s incoherent babbling in the room across the hall when it reached loud volumes; she even managed to sort of respond to Kenzi’s comments.

Eons later, she had conserved enough energy to make coherent sentiments and gestures not related to pain response and had asked, no she had _begged_ Kenzi to free her from her torment. Whatever fate awaited her in the afterlife couldn’t have possibly been any worse than how she felt. Tamsin knew that on some level she was being selfish, that if Kenzi put her out of her misery she’d be putting her death on the human and the dark-haired Russian would have to deal with that, but she didn’t care. It would have been a mercy killing; she had been asking for peace. Peace she felt she didn’t deserve, but the pain was too great, she wasn’t strong enough. And the valkyrie prided herself on being strong enough, her whole sense of being orbited on being perceived as strong enough.

She felt despair consume her when Kenzi denied her; she wanted to yell that she needed it, that it was her only option, but her throat was drier than a desert and she had no saliva to coat it and could do nothing but beg through squeezing the human’s arm. She had given up half because it had been foolish to ask the secretly softhearted thief in the first place and half because of the mention of Lauren. Her desire and willingness to die hadn’t diminished in the slightest and only seemed to increase as time wore on and the pain swelled, but she wanted to say goodbye to the blonde doctor, at least. It was silly, but it helped her try and tolerate the pain. Tamsin even allowed herself to think that once Lauren was better, the doctor would see her state and oblige her request. Whatever she felt for the valkyrie, she was still a doctor, she would _have_ to see the sensibility of her request. Armed with that hope, the Dark Fae had withdrawn her hand from Kenzi’s arm and allowed herself to sink back into the feeling of every one of her cells being burned away but not burnt up.

It could have been shortly after that, but she felt like it had been the span of time it took to grow mountains, Kenzi must have run out of absinthe because her ability to have temporary control of her voice and basic motor functions disappeared altogether and every action she was able to make related only to expressing the pain she was in. Thousands of years passed. Maybe millions. She could have been dipped in gasoline and set alight to die a slow death and it still would have been less painful than this. There were exited voices near her but she didn’t know what they were saying. The high-pitched hum had returned and she wondered more if that was the sound of her atoms screaming in pain than what the voices were saying. A span of time passed in which galaxies were created and planets formed and the excited voices returned.

Tamsin then vaguely registered being lifted off the short daybed, being carried a short distance and laid back down but for all she knew, she could have been imagining it but the light beyond her tightly closed eyelids was brighter. Epochs happened, whole civilizations rose and fell and there were more voices. She barely registered the pinprick of a needle into her arm as a sea of excruciating suffering swallowed it up. She blacked out so suddenly; she wasn’t even able to feel the relief of being pulled away from the never-ending pain.

Maybe she dreamt. Time had been inconsequential and indeterminable since she’d been injured and reality was utterly meaningless so any kind of sensory stimulation couldn’t be trusted. Tamsin felt like she was in suspended animation; surrounded by the blackness of deep unconsciousness so thick that she felt like she was hanging in a thick gel. Sometimes though, she felt like she was close to the border of being cognizant. Far enough away that everything felt like a dream and she couldn’t have moved if she wanted to but close enough to where she could register her nerve endings starting to tingle with the hot burning sensation of the enchantment.

It was in these odd spaces where her body was trying to reacquaint her with the pain she’d been missing out on that she would hear it. A voice with a pleasing, soothing cadence that sometimes rose in pitch with an occasional question but the sound was far away and muffled so she couldn’t make heads nor tails of it in the thick soup of not-quite-close-to-sort-of-conscious. The valkyrie wouldn’t hover in that space very long; long enough to start to register the pain trying to push past the barriers of the viscous mostly dream state and then the voice and then nothing. She thought that maybe she felt heavy warmth next to her, limbs thrown over her midsection, weight on one shoulder and gentle streams of breath on her neck, but her senses couldn’t be trusted and everything felt so heavy already.

Tamsin didn’t know how much time passed. It seemed plausible that it was the same span of time that stars lived and died; modern man evolved from distant ape ancestors and had advanced civilizations but when she swam towards consciousness again, instead of registering pain trying to intrude on her respite, she felt only a severely bruised soreness in her abdomen. Finally she was able to register the world beyond the narrow scope of her pain she’d been living in.

There was a breeze coming from an open window that she could feel on the skin exposed above the sheet pulled up to her midsection and it was cool and crisp; it smelled like it had been raining. There was the soreness in her abdomen that felt like being brushed with crushed velvet compared to the pain she’d been in before, her head was throbbing but it was cradled on feathery soft pillows. The light beyond the valkyrie’s closed eyes was uneven; too bright on one side and dim on the other which suggested it was dark out and a side lamp had been turned on. She didn’t feel the tightness of the clothes she normally wore; she could feel the fabric of the sheet on the skin of her legs that weren’t covered by shorts and the shirt she wore was too big and loose. There was a tight tugging sensation in the crook of her elbow that she associated with having an IV needle inserted and taped to her skin.

Tamsin registered someone moving around the room but was still struggling with trying to open her eyes. They felt like they were glued shut. She immediately recognized the person as being Lauren when the doctor started humming an invented melody someplace off to her side where the light was coming from, the soft sounds of rustling papers accompanying the tune. The valkyrie finally managed to force her gummy eyes open and she immediately slammed them shut against the soft yellow light of the desk lamp that might as well have been a supernova. The blonde fae opened them very slightly to adjust her gaze and tried to locate the human through the tiny slits she allowed herself to look through, noting that she was lying in Lauren’s own bed. Turning her head to one side, she saw past the metal pole holding up her IV bag to Lauren hovering over the plain functional writing desk against one wall, flipping through stacks of paper stuffed into files, tapping a thin finger against the side of the folder in her hand along with her humming.

Relief at seeing the blonde human up an about flooded through Tamsin so quickly and completely that her whole body was engulfed in warmth for a moment. Without thinking about how useless her bone dry throat was going to be, the valkyrie attempted to call Lauren’s name to get her attention, succeeding only in letting out a whisper of air that sounded like the other blonde’s name only on the most nebulous of levels. Deciding against attempting the gesture again as it sent a raw scratchy feeling up her esophagus; Tamsin lifted the arm that didn’t have a needle sticking out of it and brought it down with a hard cottony slap on the bed next to her, startling Lauren into silence and causing her to drop her papers on the desk, her gaze snapping to the valkyrie who managed to turn her chapped lips into an apologetic smile for having made her jump.

“Tamsin.” Lauren breathed out, hurrying to the Dark Fae’s side. “You’re awake.” She noted unnecessarily, sounding like some great stress had been mollified as she pulled a small flashlight out of her pocket and flashed it into the Valkyrie’s eyes.

Tamsin nodded her head against the pillow underneath it and squinted against the bright light but followed it with her eyes as it moved back and forth in front of her face. Blinking the spots away as the flashlight was clicked off, she watched Lauren move back to her desk and pour some water into a glass from a pitcher, returning to the bedside to help her in her struggle to half sit up. Tamsin took the glass from the doctor so Lauren could stuff another pillow behind her to support her back and took greedy gulps from the glass, not caring that the process was utterly painful.

“Slow down,” Lauren demanded lightly, half laughing. “You’re going to choke.”

As if in an effort to prove her point, Tamsin immediately sputtered and coughed as water entered her trachea, the doctor taking the glass from her with a shake of her head and setting it on the nightstand.

“Sorry.” The valkyrie said sheepishly after her coughing fit died down. Though her throat was lubricated, her voice was wobbly and cracked from disuse and she frowned at the strained sound having not expected it. She took in the sight of the shorter blonde who was sitting on the edge of the bed and noted that her skin had gone back to its normal healthy shade and the skin around her eyes wasn’t horribly bruised looking anymore, having faded to a collection of yellows and magentas that just made her look tired instead of dead. “What happened? Are you okay, doc?” she asked hoarsely, moving a hand as if to grab one of Lauren’s but she decided against it and just rested it in her lap.

“I’m fine.” The human reassured, pulling the hand Tamsin had in her lap towards her with both hands. “Bo and Dyson got the ingredients to make the tonic to cure me of Rona’s poisons.” She wrinkled her nose as she remembered the sharp tartness of the sour smelling concoction and absently ran her thumb back and forth on the side of the Valkyrie’s hand. “I was back to moving around by the end of the next day. Dyson moved you into here and I put you in a barb coma to keep you from the pain.”

Her thumb stopped moving and she tensed slightly. “They should have done it at the lab when you were taken to get stitched up.” She said with a frown, her voice tinged with misplaced guilt. “But the Ash and the Morrigan said it would create too many questions and I’m pretty sure they were pissed you’d killed that bezlad.”

Tamsin lifted her shoulders in a shrug. Given the chance, she’d do it again. She prodded Lauren into continuing by gently tapping the palm under her hand with her index finger a few times. “How long was I out?” she asked when the doctor didn’t say anything.

“Ten days.” She restarted the gentle movement of her thumb and frowned again. “Well, you were in a medically induced coma for ten days. If you count the time you spent incapacitated from pain, you were out for eleven, almost twelve days.” She looked away again, focusing on the lamp on her desk before swinging her anxious gaze to the Valkyrie’s face. “I’m sorry, Tamsin… if I had been more careful, none of it would have happened. I don’t know how you could have stood that amount of pain for so long.”

Tamsin felt the corners of her mouth lift involuntarily, her chapped lips cracking slightly. “S’not your fault.” She said sincerely. “Kenzi took good care of me. Of both of us.” She tapped the other blonde’s palm again when she nodded, choosing not to tell the doctor about pleading with the dark haired human to kill her; if Kenzi hadn’t mentioned it, she wasn’t going to either. “You’re out of absinthe by the way.”

Lauren smiled and lifted her gaze to the ceiling. “Yeah, Kenzi told me when she and Bo came to check on you the other day.” She lifted the hand resting on top of the Valkyrie’s and ran a few fingers along the side of her hair, just barely tracing the outside of Tamsin’s ear with her fingers. “It’s okay, it went to a good cause.”

Tamsin smiled and caught the doctor’s wrist in a light grasp before she could pull her hand away and tugged on it tenderly. Lauren took the hint immediately as if she had been looking for an excuse and leaned over to bring their lips together. She had meant for it to be a quick kiss, just reassurance that the doctor was there; maybe several quick kisses, but when Lauren gently twisted out of the grasp the valkyrie had her in to thread her fingers through the hair on the back of Tamsin’s head, the fae used her free hand to grip Lauren’s shoulder and pull her closer as she ran her tongue along the human’s lower lip to deepen the kiss.

Their quickening breath came out of their noses softly but audibly, mingling in the microscopic space between them, breathing each other in and out as their tongues danced against each other. Tamsin moved her hand that was still on top of the doctor’s and used both hands to grip her just above the waist and urge her closer; any other time, she would have just picked the human up but her arms were slightly weak and she didn’t trust herself not to some how mess up the IV still embedded in the bend of her elbow.

Tamsin’s moan from the doctor settling herself on the valkyrie’s lap with her knees planted on either side of her legs was cut short when her breath hitched as Lauren dipped her head away from the Dark Fae’s lips to nip at the skin on one side of her neck. Tamsin placed her hands on Lauren’s lower back and roughly jerked the other blonde’s lower body forward, immediately regretting the overenthusiastic gesture when the action caused the inside of Lauren’s upper leg to press into the wound in her side.

The doctor immediately rocked backwards and scooted herself further down on Tamsin’s thighs when the groan that left the Valkyrie was one of displeasure, pulling away and slipping into doctor mode with admirable quickness as she lifted the side of the oversized grey t-shirt. Tamsin pinned the shirt to her side so Lauren wouldn’t have to hold it and so her arm would be out of the way but didn’t move her other hand from the human’s hip. She wrinkled her nose as the tape was pulled away from her skin and the clean gauze patch was opened like a hinge on a door. The side of the gauze that had been pressed against the injury had blood on it, but it was hardly any and practically pink with the other fluids that had seeped out with it.

“How many stitches did I get?” Tamsin asked to take her mind off the subsiding throbbing sensation in her abdomen and the feeling of the doctor’s fingers lightly ghosting around the red edges ringing the line of thick black sutures that looked like little spiders sprouting from her skin.

“Thirty-three.” Lauren replied automatically as if she had stitched the wound herself. She carefully pulled the bandage the rest of the way off, folded it in half so the bloodied side was covered and pulled the white medical tape around it so it was in a neat little package. She leaned forward and kissed the valkyrie lightly, pulling away immediately after and getting off the bed, tossing the dirty gauze into a wastebasket between her desk and the nightstand. “I’m going to change the bandages.” She announced, pulling the materials out of top drawer of the nightstand.

“You keep medical supplies in your nightstand, doc?” Tamsin teased, arching one eyebrow and letting go of the edge of the shirt so it fell back over the wound.

Lauren tossed a box of gauze pads next to the tape she’d pulled out. “Are you really that surprised?” she responded playfully, rummaging around in the drawer for something else. “They’ve got to be changed every twenty-four hours; it just seemed easier to have everything in one place.” She pulled out a small spray bottle and gathered the items into both hands, shutting the drawer with the side of her leg and deftly climbed back onto the bed, straddling the other blonde’s legs and splaying the items out on the lap in front of her. “Your shirt, please.”

“Yeah, about that,” Tamsin started, lifting up the hem of the shirt and holding it against her ribs again. “Not my shirt,” she moved her legs under the sheet, causing the doctor to rock side to side for a second. “Not my shorts, _and_ I don’t seem to be wearing any underwear. You know anything bout that, doc?” she wrinkled her nose, feeling like the confident tone she’d intended was ruined by her not quite revitalized vocal chords.

“I put you in a coma for over a week and your clothes were disgusting and bloody.” Lauren replied factually while opening two packages of gauze in rapid succession.

Tamsin hummed like she didn’t believe her and returned her free hand to Lauren’s hip. “If you wanna take my clothes off, you just have to ask, doc. No need for pretense.”

“Please; I’m a doctor, Tamsin.” The blonde human replied with a laugh in her voice as she sprayed the gauze with whatever was in the bottle and patted it gently against the stitches. She didn’t point out that the valkyrie had been practically convulsing with pain when she’d redressed her. She smiled as she positioned the dry gauze pad over the stitches when she felt Tamsin’s hand glide up from her hip to stroke the skin under the bottom of her shirt.

“M’I gonna live, Doctor Lewis?” the Dark Fae asked in a half singsong, feeling her skin being tugged slightly as the new tape was applied.

“As long as I have something to say about it.” Lauren responded in the affirmative, nodding as she smoothed down the last piece of tape and pulled the t-shirt down out of Tamsin’s hand. “We have to watch for infection.” She continued thoughtfully, absentmindedly running her hand up the arm of the valkyrie that didn’t have a needle in it and leaned closer, mindful of the wound.

“So no drinking until I say so.” Her voice dropped slightly as she kissed the curve of Tamsin’s jaw. “And no pulling out the stitches until I say so.” Lauren felt the other woman’s hands on her back when she continued to lead a line of kisses down her neck and over the exposed skin of one shoulder from the large neck of the too big tee. “And no strenuous activity until I say so.” She lightly bit the skin she had been murmuring against to keep from chuckling when Tamsin let out a frustrated sigh.

“Shoulda just let me die, doc.” Tamsin muttered. It had been a joke, but she regretted it once she’d said it.

Lauren moved to cup the valkyrie’s face in her hands, worry written on her features but she didn’t comment on the poor taste of the joke; pulling the other blonde up to kiss her fiercely. She pulled away when she felt Tamsin’s hands starting to repeat the action that had brought her pain in the first place and rested her forehead against the other blonde’s to catch her breath, putting her arms around her neck.

“So,” Tamsin started, her voice sounding gravely from the huskiness and her dry throat. She pulled back and tilted her head slightly to one side. “Since it seems like I’m gonna have all kinds of free time coming up, you wanna, like,” she shrugged. “Go on a date or something?”

Lauren regarded the other woman carefully, trying to figure out if Tamsin was asking her out because she actually wanted to go on a date or if it was the next best option since she’d had to be a responsible doctor and veto their increasing physicality for a while. The valkyrie’s expression was hopeful though and Lauren gave her a lopsided smile while nodding her head. “Are you even going to be able to plan a whole date without drinking?” she asked skeptically, kissing the corner of the taller blonde’s mouth.

Lauren’s arms lifted as Tamsin shrugged. “Nah.” She conceded easily as the human’s fingers wound through her hair and tugged a little. “Pretty sure I’m gonna talk you into letting me have a couple glasses of wine.” 

“You’re not that persuasive.” Lauren remarked before languidly kissing the Valkyrie. She felt Tamsin’s mouth smile against hers because they both knew she was.


	13. Chapter 13

Tamsin stayed at Lauren’s for another five days after initially waking up. She’d half-heartedly protested the idea, she was a valkyrie after all and didn’t like being taken care of, but the doctor had no qualms about not mincing words over her belief that the other blonde was not only in no state to properly care for herself, but she likely wouldn’t do it without constant badgering. That Lauren was quick to point out that she had been taking care of her the previous ten days; the only difference now was Tamsin was conscious. Lauren was right, of course; Tamsin was stubborn even when it came to her own wellbeing. So she stayed, but her perfunctory griping was more for show and out of habit than anything else.

It had been a little odd at first, certainly not unpleasant but a strange sort of uncomfortable. Tamsin didn’t make a habit of sharing a bed with someone if all they were doing was sleeping; that was usually asking her to put too much trust in someone else. Anyways, she’d been pretty sure that she wasn’t going to sleep well because of her trust issues without being doped up on whatever had put her under. It hadn’t been as awkward as she made it out to be in her head; falling asleep with Lauren’s head on her shoulder, arm positioned carefully on her upper body to avoid the wound in her side was frustratingly comfortable. Tamsin was more confused by how easy everything felt than anything else.

In fact, she’d grown so comfortable with the situation that once Lauren cleared her to return to her own apartment, she’d had spent the first night alone laying awake and staring blankly at the speckled white ceiling over her bed. She’d nearly dozed off during her first day back at the district station as well. No sleep coupled with being regulated to deskwork until further notice found her nodding off more than a few times. Paperwork was boring and mindless and she spent a great deal of time glaring at Dyson whenever he’d take off to follow some lead on a case, but at least he seemed to be doing his own pencil pushing for his cases.

Tamsin spent a lot of time during working hours trying to plot out where she was going to take Lauren for a date. She wanted the doctor to have a good time, but she didn’t want to have to ask anyone for ideas. As far as she knew, despite it being an open secret that she and Lauren were interested in each other, she was fairly certain that Lauren hadn’t spoken to anyone about them, if there even _was_ a them. She had yet to receive a stern lecture from Dyson or an official physical threat from Bo about it, so she felt safe in assuming Lauren hadn’t spoken to them.

Tamsin hadn’t been on an actual date in several centuries and the jittery nervousness in the pit of her stomach surprised her. She was no amateur when it came to wooing a person but dating wasn’t exactly her forte. She usually saw it as a pointless dance people did to live up to some kind of respectability law dictating when they were allowed to sleep together and she’d much rather cut through the bullshit. Much to her irritation, however, she found herself genuinely wanting to actually date the blonde human. Of course she wanted to sleep with her, but the idea of taking her out didn’t feel like a means to an end. In spite of the encouraging attitude Lauren had towards her, Tamsin couldn’t help but be annoyed at her own feelings and a little worried she was getting played. She didn’t think Lauren was that kind of person, but she was wholly unused to things working out in her favor when it came to other people and having legitimate romantic feelings for someone meant that there was more risk involved. On both sides.

The valkyrie felt like a child and it was completely off putting. Lauren would call or text her every night to remind her to change her bandages and she’d be unable to control the slight smile that would creep unbidden onto her features whenever she saw the doctor’s name on her cellphone’s ID. Part of her wanted to fight this – this level of easy comfort Lauren seemed to draw out of her with no effort – another part was actively telling the first to keep its stupid mouth shut.

Tamsin sighed as she combed her fingers through her wet hair and sat on the edge of her bed clad only in a towel. If there was one thing to be thankful for about having her abdomen punctured by a spear, it was that she got home at decent hours from work and even the Morrigan seemed more or less sympathetic as she’d not had any Fae related business thrust on her either. Having a lot of free time was kind of nice, though she did feel a little restless from time to time.

Tamsin was also genuinely surprised at how much money her injury was saving her as she hadn’t drank any alcohol since waking up from her coma. Kenzi had given her a bottle of scotch over a week ago to celebrate her being able to return home (and seeing as it was a _good_ bottle, she’d likely swindled it from Trick, but it was the thought that mattered) and it still sat unopened on the countertop of her microscopic kitchen. That in particular was pretty much when Tamsin knew she had it bad. Alcohol didn’t last long in her possession and it never had. The fact that she was taking Lauren’s care instructions seriously really said something. What that something was, exactly, remained to be seen, but whatever it was, it was loud. Her musings were interrupted by the sharp ring of her phone and the Valkyrie eased onto her back to be in a better position to reach the cell which was half shoved under one of her pillows.

“Where d’ya wanna go tomorrow?” Tamsin asked instead of issuing a greeting.

On the other end of the line, Lauren hummed thoughtfully. “You’re the one who asked me out.” The doctor pointed out in a matter of fact tone. “Doesn’t that mean you’re supposed to figure out the details?”

Tamsin shrugged though Lauren couldn’t see her. “I dunno how it works anymore. Last time I had an actual date, Jack the Ripper was front page news.” She smiled when Lauren laughed despite the fact she’d been completely serious.

“I trust you’ll come up with something.” Lauren replied confidently. “Have you changed your bandages?”

“I’m about to, actually. I just got out of the shower a minute ago. I’ve barely had time to dry.” She stifled a snicker when she heard Lauren suck in a sharp breath and clear her throat. “When are you gonna take these damn stitches out, doc?” she continued, poking the area near her wound gently through the towel. “They’re itching like crazy.”

“Well, I appreciate you not pulling them out this time…” Lauren started, a smile in her voice. “I’m not sure though, it’s been a while since I looked at them but you were healing really nicely last I checked; they’re probably ready to come out. Come by the lab tomorrow and I’ll look.”

“I thought you were free tomorrow?” Tamsin asked, her mouth pulling down into a slight frown. “If you need to reschedule…”

“No, no,” Lauren interrupted quickly. “There’s just so much to catch up on since I was out, I’m just going in in the morning. You’d think I’d been gone for the last six months.” Tamsin could almost hear her roll her eyes.

“Not everyone can be as big brained and competent as you, Doctor Lewis.”

“Flattery won’t get you anywhere.” Lauren chided playfully.

The valkyrie laughed lightly. “You sure about that? Seems to be working pretty good so far.”

“You don’t need to use flattery to get anywhere with me, Tamsin.” Came the low reply. This time, it was Tamsin’s turn to suck in a breath and clear her throat, but Lauren did nothing to stifle her amused laugh. “Are you drinking enough water?” she asked, switching gears entirely.

Tamsin wiped her free hand down the front of her flushed face. “There’s water in coffee, right?” she bit her lip to keep from laughing when Lauren predictably launched into a long-winded explanation about hydration and healing processes. While she was in fact drinking absurd amounts of coffee at work, she’d also never drank so much water in her life. “Relax,” she interrupted. “I’m just messing with you. I’ve had enough water in the last two weeks to keep me hydrated till the apocalypse.”

“Good. Come by tomorrow morning before you go to the district station, okay?”

“Yup. Night, doc." 

There was a pregnant pause before Lauren bid her goodnight and she hung up the phone. Tamsin let her phone fall from her ear as she threw her arm over her eyes and groaned. This was ridiculous; she definitely had it bad.


	14. Chapter 14

Lauren liked the long weekends in the laboratory. There was some unspoken agreement that the weekend at the Light’s lab lasted from early Friday evening to late Monday afternoon so from Saturday to Monday morning barring some kind of emergency or big project, she had the place to herself. The quiet helped her think. Without the incessant questions aimed at her and her compulsive need to put her projects on hold to double check tests and research work, Lauren got the bulk of her work done during these downtimes.

Despite only not working at all for three days and spending two weeks working from home while taking care of Tamsin, she had been left a large stack of proposals, test results and research haphazardly tossed onto her workstation. Sometimes she was truly puzzled on how the lab remained in working condition before she’d gotten there. A good deal of the files piled on her desk weren’t overly sensitive or complex and could have easily been done by one of the lab technicians. She knew they weren’t stupid; lazy maybe, incompetent on occasion, but they were not stupid even when they pretended at it. Still, it was only a _little_ exasperating; she did like having the work to do and likely would have gone through it even if it hadn’t been left for her.

Surprisingly, after all the years she’d been immersed in the fae world, the intricacies of their biology never bored her, not even when it was routine. She was in the midst of scribbling notes in the margins of a paper when the main doors of the lab opened, causing her to look up. She’d been expecting Tamsin, but the smile that touched her lips when Bo strode towards her was genuine.

“I thought I’d find you here.” The succubus started, perching on the edge of Lauren’s desk. “Aren’t you supposed to be taking it easy still?”

Lauren shook her head and leaned back in her chair, welcoming the break. “There would just be more work when I got back.” She reasoned. “Besides, thanks to you and Dyson, I feel fine. Better than fine.”

Bo beamed, looking rightfully pleased with herself and she leaned over slightly to get a look at the papers in front of the blonde. “What are you working on? Anything important?”

“Comparative substrate and enzyme profiles of fast and slow muscle fibers in trolls and ogres.” Lauren laughed slightly at Bo’s eager but completely clueless expression and shook her head. “No, nothing important.” She clarified. “What brings you here?”

The brunette reached into her back pocket and pulled out a tiny plastic bag, handing it over. “We keep having things going missing.” Bo started; watching while Lauren held the bag up to the light before carefully shaking out the contents onto a glass slide and prepping it.

“What kind of things?” the doctor questioned, putting the slide under her microscope and fiddling with the fine focus.

“Little things; jewelry, keys, shirts, cups… nothing serious. Just things we thought we were misplacing. But then we started noticing we’d put something down and look away for a second and it’ll be gone. The last week, we’ve been hearing knocking in the walls and Kenzi has been saying that she hears someone calling her name when I’m not home… and those…scales, or whatever, have been all over the house the last couple days.”

Lauren hummed that she was listening and squinted slightly into the eyepiece as if that would help her see better. What indeed had looked like a small rainbow hued scale on first glance was actually a tightly matted mass of multi-colored hair.

“Is it bad?” Bo asked worriedly after several minutes of silence.

Lauren laughed and shook her head as she pulled away from the microscope. “It’s from a fatras imp.”

“What’s that?”

“They’re relatively small underfae, about the size of a large mouse. They can and do establish colonies of up to forty though. If you’re finding hair mats already, there’s definitely more than ten.”

Bo frowned and crossed her arms. “Should I be worried? Are they dangerous?”

“Not dangerous, really. More annoying than anything. They’re um…” she cleared her throat to hide the chuckle threatening to break free. “They’re attracted to clutter, so…”

“So time to clean the clubhouse.” Bo finished with a grin.

“Only if you want to get rid of them.” Lauren agreed with amusement. “Leave out a bowl of milk and honey the day before you finish cleaning, they might give you your stuff back on their way out.”

The succubus nodded and uncrossed her arms, her gaze dropping to her feet. “So, you and Tamsin have a date this week, huh?”

Lauren tilted her head to one side and studied Bo’s features carefully. She couldn’t imagine that the Valkyrie had spoken to Bo about it. “Yes,” she replied uncertainly, not exactly sure where this conversation was going.

Bo flashed an apologetic smile at the blonde’s wary tone. “Kenzi told me she asked you.”

“Kenzi?” Lauren asked, not bothering to mask her confused tone.

The brunette shrugged slightly. “I suppose when you ask someone for a mercy killing, it’s the fastest way to become friends?” she grimaced at the blonde’s shocked expression. “You… didn’t know about that.” It was more of a concerned realization than a question.

“She didn’t—she didn’t tell me…” Lauren said, trailing off and frowning.

Bo took Lauren’s hands to bring her attention back from wherever her faraway gaze had taken her mind and gripped her fingers softly. “She was in a lot of pain then. She’s not anymore, okay?”

Lauren nodded and squeezed back, smiling weakly. “I know. I mean, I’m not surprised, no one can go through that kind of pain for so long and not want to…” she shook her head, unwilling to complete the thought. “It’s fine. I wish she’d said something, but all that matters is she’s okay now.”

“Thanks to you.” Bo reminded her, smiling encouragingly, squeezing the hands in hers once more before gently extricating herself. “So, when’s this big date supposed to be?”

“You don’t have to ask about that, Bo.” Lauren assured gently. She could tell that the brunette had meant for her tone to be teasing, but there was a distinct strained note to her voice.

“No, I want to know.” Bo insisted, smiling to let the blonde know she was being genuine. “Tamsin is my friend and you…well,” she shrugged. “You know. I’m interested in whatever and _who_ ever makes you happy.”

Lauren returned the easy smile and ran her palms over the tops of her legs a few times to rid herself of nerves. “Tonight.” She rolled her eyes. “Well, as long as Kenzi hasn’t said anything to Dyson too, I suppose. He’s already given me his express disapproval so I’d imagine if he knew he’d make a scene.”

“Don’t worry about him.” Bo said confidently, looking up as the doors to the lab swung open and Tamsin walked in shuffling slowly towards them, fully engrossed in a typing a text message. “He’ll leave you alone.” She continued, sliding off the table. “Thanks for the heads up, I’ll see if I can’t bribe Kenz into doing most of the cleaning.”

Lauren reached out and took Bo’s hand, entwining their fingers briefly and smiling softly. “Thank you, Bo.” She said tenderly. “For everything.”

The succubus smiled and ran her thumb over Lauren’s knuckles before releasing her hand and making her way out of the lab. “Hey,” she said quietly just as she was passing the valkyrie, putting her hand on Tamsin’s wrist to get her attention.

Tamsin stopped walking and looked up from her phone, arching one eyebrow questioningly. “Hey.” She replied cautiously, compelled to use the same hushed volume.

Bo tossed a quick glance over her shoulder at Lauren who had returned to scribbling notes on the research paper she’d been looking over in lieu of trying to eavesdrop on the two women. “Don’t mess this up.”

Tamsin shifted her weight to one side uncomfortably and tilted her head slightly, trying to gauge the brunette’s angle. “Don’t plan on it.” She said confidently when she detected no threat in the succubus’ order.

Bo smiled and dropped her hand from the blonde’s wrist, nodding. “See you around, Tamsin.”

“Later, succubus.” She replied, watching Bo walk out of the lab. She looked back towards Lauren who was bent over her paperwork and shoved her phone back into her pocket, forgetting about the text message she’d been working on and making her way over to the doctor. “We gonna pull these stitches out, or what?” she asked, drawing the other blonde’s attention.

Lauren smiled and pushed herself away from her workstation to stand up. “Probably, but I need to look first.” She tugged on Tamsin’s hand and walked backwards further into the lab. “Take your shirt off and go lie on the exam table, I’ll be there in a minute.”

Tamsin smirked and put gentle pressure on the hand in hers before letting go. “I kinda like it when you’re bossy, doc.” She said cockily, pulling her shirt over her head and hopping onto the nearest table, the thin butcher paper crinkling beneath her weight as she leaned back and threw an arm behind her head to offer better access to the stitched area.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Lauren laughed from where she was scrubbing her hands in a sink. She pulled on a pair of gloves and scooted a rolling stool over to the table with her foot, flipping on a light near the intensity of a flood lamp and pointing it at the Valkyrie’s abdomen. Swiping down the area with an alcohol pad she hummed appreciatively and reached for a pair of medical scissors on the tray next to the table. “Looks pretty good.” She informed, using her other hand to grab a pair of tweezers. “You’re going to feel some pulling, but it shouldn’t hurt.”

Tamsin nodded her assent and watched Lauren carefully pull the stitching up, cut the loops and pull the suture free from her skin. “So what’s going on with the succubus?” she asked casually after a minute of watching the doctor work silently.

“Fatras imps.” Lauren replied without looking up but she smiled when Tamsin snorted.

“I just assumed she’s had a colony of those things for years already.”

“The clubhouse isn’t _that_ bad.” Lauren defended lightly. “It’s a little run down and a little messy and…” she glanced up to find Tamsin smiling knowingly under raised eyebrows. “Okay, I’m a little surprised they didn’t get them before now too.”

“That’s what I thought.” Tamsin said self-satisfactorily.

Lauren rolled her eyes and snipped at another suture. “Bo tells me you and Kenzi are pretty good friends now?” she asked, her voice as nonchalant as she could muster.

The valkyrie shrugged as best she could with one shoulder. “Turns out I kinda like the brat… she grows on you,” she said, wrinkling her nose as one of the suture knots got caught on her skin. “Like a fungus. A fungus made of one liners and vodka.”

Lauren laughed and shook her head. “I won’t argue with that.” She sighed noiselessly and her tone sobered. “Bo also told me what facilitated your friendship.”

“You start to feel real affectionate towards someone after asking something like that.” Tamsin admitted quietly. She watched as the doctor pulled out the last of the stitching and swapped the medical tools for another alcohol wipe. “Are you mad I didn’t tell you?”

“No, of course not.” Lauren quickly assured. “I just don’t want you to think you have to shield me from anything.”

“I don’t, doc, honest. It’s just kind of a mood-killing topic, yanno? I didn’t want you to worry over nothing.” she watched a smile ghost over the other blonde’s face but when she didn’t look up Tamsin stilled her ministrations with the hand not tucked under her head. She waited until Lauren looked up at her, her expression troubled. In spite of the concern etched on the human’s features causing her stomach to tighten uncomfortably, the valkyrie smiled slightly; unable to quell the flattery she felt that Lauren had been concerned over something that hadn’t even happened. “What’s wrong? Everything worked out, right?”

“I know.” Lauren said, letting out a loud sigh while nodding. She pulled off her gloves and splayed her palms flat against the skin of the valkyrie’s stomach. “I’m just…” she lifted her gaze to the ceiling as if the speckled tiles had the right words. “I guess it just doesn’t feel fair to have been so close to losing something so new.”

Tamsin pulled her arm out from behind her head and trailed her fingers over the doctor’s jaw. “I’m fine, Lauren.” She said firmly, smiling slightly when the other blonde’s eyes slipped close at the sound of her name. “You were kinda touch and go yourself for a while, yanno.”

Lauren nodded and gripped the hand against her face, turning her head to press her lips to the palm. “You’re right.”

“Yeah, get used to that.” Tamsin said grinning. She propped herself up on her elbow and met the doctor halfway in a languid kiss. “M’I all healed up, doc?” she asked breathlessly as they pulled away, resting her forehead against Lauren’s.

Lauren murmured a noise indicating her endorsement and kissed the Valkyrie again, running her tongue briefly along the fae’s lower lip but breaking away before either of them could deepen it. “You’ve still got to take it easy for a little while.” She replied. “You’ll be fit for regular duty by next week.”

“Fabulous.” Tamsin said distractedly, though she was genuinely thankful she wasn’t going to be spending an unforeseeable amount of time filing paperwork at her desk. She was going to have to remember to get the peons who normally did the brunt of the paperwork a gift basket or something. Or at least seriously think about getting it anyways. “Wanna get out of here?”

Lauren laughed and shook her head. “Aren’t you supposed to work this afternoon?”

Tamsin shrugged and leaned away, picking up her shirt from where it was laying in a crumpled ball between her knees and pulling it on, pleased that the familiar tug of the stitches was gone when she raised her arms over her head. “Can’t.” she reasoned. “Doctor told me to take it easy and I’m trying to take this hot blonde out and show her a good time.”

“Far be it from me to question sound medical advice.” Lauren said in a serious manner, nodding her head.

The valkyrie grinned and hopped off the exam table to follow Lauren to her desk to organize her papers, turning equipment off on her way. “S’what I thought.” She agreed. “Pretty damn early for dinner though.”

“It’s a good time for lunch.” The blonde human pointed out, turning around after putting her computer into power save mode. She took an exaggerated step into Tamsin’s personal space and encircled her arms around the taller woman’s waist. “Besides,” she continued lowly near Tamsin’s ear, eliciting a shiver from the valkyrie that had nothing to do with the chilled air of the lab. “I’m pretty sure I can help you work up an appetite between now and then, don’t you?” 

Tamsin nodded dumbly, barely able to finish a complete movement of her head before capturing Lauren’s lips again, both of them melting into each other. Heat blossomed throughout Tamsin’s body and she hummed mostly unconsciously when the doctor’s tongue pushed between her lips. Tamsin wasn’t generally one for unmitigated compliance, but if this was what giving in felt like, she was unreservedly sure that she could get used to it.


	15. Chapter 15

**Epilogue**

 

Tamsin fumbled with the keys to the front door, her fingers feeling hot, thick and clumsy from the punches she’d thrown earlier. She shuffled through the door once it was unlocked and trudged up the stairs, not bothering to turn on any lights and shedding her shoes, jacket, and bra on her way up. She collided heavily with the doorframe of the bedroom while tugging herself out of her dirt caked jeans, swearing under her breath before holding in a lungful of air to make sure she hadn’t woken her girlfriend up. It was pointless though, Lauren was prone to waking up for no other reason than a picture being slightly tilted on the wall and she heard the doctor stir in her sleep, calling out her name groggily.

Tamsin grunted in response, bumbling across the room and flopping onto her stomach on the unoccupied side of the bed, already half asleep by the time her head hit the pillow. The darkness beyond her eyelids flooded into brightness as Lauren turned on the bedside lamp and fluttered about the room, worry evident in her movements even though Tamsin’s eyes refused to open to verify the other blonde’s concern.

“Tamsin,” Lauren repeated, her voice now displaying her wakefulness and concern. “What happened? Are you okay? Is everyone…?”

Tamsin frowned slightly at the tone in the doctor’s voice and the bright light beyond her eyelids, groping around for Lauren’s hand even though every one of her muscles was screaming a symphony in efforts to get her to stop moving around. She settled on the knee her hand connected with and squeezed to let her know everything was all right. “S’rry, doc.” She mumbled sincerely, her voice hoarse with the minimal effort she was putting into speaking. “Bo dropped m’off. Hadda take Kenzi to the lab.” She let her hand fall away from the knee under her grip and felt herself being rolled onto her back.

“What happened?” Lauren repeated more firmly. Her weight disappeared from the bed and Tamsin could hear drawers opening and closing. Tamsin wondered if she looked as sore as she felt. She knew from the throbbing heat on her cheek that there was a welt forming on the left side of her face but other than that, she didn’t think so, otherwise Lauren would come to bed and stop talking. “Is Kenzi alright? Should I go to the lab?”

Tamsin gestured dismissively and dropped her hand heavily on the bed next to her face. “S’fine.” She started, voice slurred with physical exhaustion. “H’arm’s broke is all.” She blew air through her closed lips briefly. “Bo needs some stitches or a good tumble.” She waved the arm hanging off the edge of the bed vaguely towards the pool of dirt-covered jeans by the bedroom door. “Made fi’hundred bucks though.” She smiled into the silence that followed because she could hear the frown on Lauren’s face.

“Dammit, Tamsin, I _told_ you to stop doing that fight club shit.”

Tamsin snorted loudly, unable to laugh properly but her shoulders shook with her silent giggle anyways. It wasn’t like Lauren to swear. Only when she was frustrated beyond the point of rationality or she was attempting (and always succeeding) in dousing every one of the Valkyrie’s nerve endings in the fires of sudden arousal. Tamsin liked to fight, it was true. She and Bo had a nice little racket going in some of the underground MMA clubs around the city that Kenzi insisted on managing that didn’t always turn out to be the easy money they’d wagered it to be. Largely people didn’t like losing and took their affronted feelings up with her and Bo after the matches when they could outnumber the two fae, but Tamsin had tried to tone it down in recent months. After all, since the dissolution of the Dark versus Light system several months ago, making them far more of an alliance than they had ever been, Tamsin along with Bo and Dyson had to set some kind of example for everyone else, regardless of her own protestations about that fact.

“Buncha drunk fuckin trolls. Money w’sin their pockets.” She hummed, groaning in annoyance, as one of her eyes was pried open and a bight light shown into it. “Got all excited bout the poss’bility of beatin’ up the succubus.” She jerked her head away from the harsh brightness of the flashlight and screwed her eyes shut again. “Couldn’t let her get her ass kicked by herself, could I?”

“You’re all heart.” Lauren sighed flatly, causing Tamsin to snort again. “Kenzi’s okay?”

Tamsin hummed in the affirmative, snatching Lauren’s wrist in front of her face before she could shine that damnable light in her eyes again and pulling the doctor down on top of her heavily. “She’s fine,” she reassured, wrapping a sore arm around Lauren’s back to prevent her from sitting up properly though she smiled when she felt the glare burning the skin on her face. “Kenz’s fine. Bo’s fine. Ev’rybody’s fine.”

“You’re not ‘fine.’” She pointed out, her tone reprimanding and resting her head on the valkyrie’s chest under her chin.

“There were _six_ of them.” Tamsin replied defensively, burying her face in Lauren’s hair and breathing in the scent of citrus and something vaguely antiseptic. “Six, doc.” She repeated in an effort to drive home her point and mildly offended that Lauren could have possibly thought that anything short of six drunken trolls would cause her to disturb her rest. Trolls were huge and slow, lacking in any manner of agility, but they were incredibly strong and six against three (well, two and a quarter) was quite a challenge. “M’fine, really.” She threw her other arm around the doctor and squeezed gently. “Bo just didn’t want me to be alone in case I had a concussion or whatever.” She chuckled as if the idea was absurd and didn’t mention that not only had she been to her own pitifully small apartment so rarely in the last six months that Bo had driven her to Lauren’s without a second thought, but that they had driven straight by her place without comment to get to there.

“Well the dilation in your pupils is mostly normal.” Lauren informed her, her tone reluctant. “Your left pupil is blown. In a human, I’d suggest possible brain bleeding and a trip to the hospital immediately.”

Tamsin hummed, only half paying attention as she stroked Lauren’s back through the thin material of the tank top she was wearing. “S’my brain bleeding?”

“No,” the doctor admitted with a sigh. “You just got hit really hard.”

Tamsin smiled involuntarily when she felt the soft press of lips against her jawline, the doctor’s head settling back down on her chest, a cheek pressed firmly against her collarbone.

“How can I stop you from unnecessary fighting?”

The valkyrie shrugged in response, bumping her chin against the top of Lauren’s head as her shoulders lifted. “Bury me, I guess.” She said nonchalantly, stifling a yawn.

“That’s not funny, Tamsin.” The human informed her, her staid tone displaying her seriousness.

“S’rry.” The apology was automatic, but it was sincere and she sighed into the top of Lauren’s head. They were quiet for several long minutes and Tamsin grunted a protest when Lauren rolled away from her, only quieting her whine when the room was plunged into darkness again.

“Tamsin,” the doctor asked after a long time. “Are you asleep?”

“Yep.” The fae replied, knowing full well Lauren could tell when she wasn’t asleep and the question had been slightly rhetorical. She grunted when she felt the resulting poke in her ribs, gentle though it was.

“I’ve been thinking…” she trailed off for a moment and Tamsin shifted her weight to one side to hold the doctor more firmly, indicating that she was listening. “I’ve been thinking for a while now.” She rephrased before falling silent again.

Tamsin cracked open one eye in curiosity; the room was dim save for the stupid streetlamp forcing light through the blue jacquard curtains, casting everything in a whitish-blue light. She cocked her head to look down at Lauren but could only see the blonde hair on top of her head in the silvery light. “Thinkin what?” she asked curiously, her voice still thick with tiredness.

“I just think that-I mean you’ve got keys and a bunch of stuff here, right?”

The valkyrie grunted a noise of confusion; not quite processing what Lauren was asking her in her vague terms. She weaved her fingers through the doctor’s hair, absently raking over the smoothed tendrils to soothe the nervousness out of the other woman. She thought of the two drawers and half the closet space she’d taken over in Lauren’s room already, the guest room across the hall already chock full of boxes and files from cases she’d been working on. “Yeah, I do.” She admitted, some of the grogginess leaving her limbs and mind.

“I was just thinking,” Lauren started again after a deep intake of air. “That maybe it’s time you moved in?” she cleared her throat. “With me, I mean.” She added as if that hadn’t been clear.

Tamsin opened both eyes fully and shifted her weight to one side, rolling Lauren off of her so she could peer at her in the half-light. The other blonde had her head turned towards the window and Tamsin gripped her girlfriend’s chin gently, turning her face back towards her. “Are you serious, Lauren?” she asked, fully awake now though her voice was only just above a whisper.

It was kind of stupid, she knew. They’d been dancing around living together for two months, at least but some part of her still felt like she didn’t quite deserve the shorter woman, like she was living on borrowed time until Lauren came to her senses and decided she didn’t want to be with her anymore. It was completely owed to her own insecurities rather than how Lauren acted towards her, she knew that, but she had a hard time emotionally conceptualizing things she knew intellectually.

Lauren pressed their lips together, darting her tongue out to taste the slightly bruised skin of Tamsin’s lower lip before pulling away and cupping the side of her face, running her thumb against the skin under it, mindful of the bruise blossoming on her face. “I’m serious.” She affirmed, knowing that on occasions like this, she had to be completely concrete with the valkyrie, even when she intuitively knew what she was getting at. Her breath stuck sharply and somewhat painfully in her throat when Tamsin kissed her fervidly but instead of pulling away, she threated her hands behind the other blonde’s head and pulled her closer.

“We could have our own place now.” Tamsin pointed out when she pulled away, resting her weight on one elbow as she followed the curve of Lauren’s jaw with her lips and the contours of her body with her free hand.

“Is that a yes?” Lauren groaned, gripping her lower lip between her teeth when Tamsin clamped gently down on the skin where her shoulder turned into her neck. She felt Tamsin laugh against her collarbone as the valkyrie slid her hand underneath her shirt and her touch ghosted over her belly, which was already taught with anticipation.

“F’you think I’m not gonna drive you nuts, I’m for it.” Tamsin murmured against the curve of her ear.

The statement had been simple, hopeful even, but somehow completely libidinous and Lauren shivered despite the heat building in her and rolling off the body half on top of her. “Oh, I’m sure you’re going to.” The doctor teased, tugging Tamsin’s shirt over her head and smiling at the ease with which the other woman complied with the action. “I think I can handle that.”

Tamsin’s laugh sounded strange since she hadn’t closed her mouth from running her tongue down the side of Lauren’s neck. “First three arguments don’t count then.” She said playfully. 

The valkyrie let out a yelp as she was flipped over and Lauren’s strong hands pressed firmly against her shoulders, pinning her to the bed. “Fair deal.” She muttered before thoroughly claiming Tamsin’s lips. Things weren’t going to be easy, things were never easy, but they were both willing to try and make this work, carve a niche out for themselves amid the day-to-day chaos and that’s really what mattered. That’s really what giving in to each other was all about.

 

**End**


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